WRAPPED IN A RIDDLE

A jim-dandy of a mystery. Miranda B. Caldwell, 11, barely has time to miss her gallivanting parents, scientists studying algae in Antarctica: at her grandmother's Jumping Frog Inn in Ashville, Oregon (where rooms are named for Mark Twain characters), mystery is afoot. Miranda is curious to know who hit the neighbor-housekeeper on the head and what is going on in the fruit shed out back; but her fun-loving grandmother isn't concerned—at least not till her collection of apparently authentic letters from Mark Twain to her great-grandmother are stolen. Since GrandAnn is too trusting to suspect her boarders, it's up to plucky Miranda to solve the case. She's helped by some new friends (the affable crew who solved a mystery in A Little Magic, 1991), but she's alone when she finds the culprit and unravels the mystery—which has more to do with Ashville's Gold Rush history than with Mark Twain. Miranda's discovery puts her in real danger, but only briefly. Readers will enjoy the riddles throughout; they may also find themselves suddenly interested in reading Mark Twain. (Fiction. 8-12)