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NEED
TO READ BOOK CLUB
March
is
Mystery
month!
Chasing Vermeer
By Blue Balliett
288 pages
When a book of
unexplainable occurrences brings Petra Andalee & Calder Pillay together,
strange things start to happen: seemingly unrelated events connect, an
eccentric old woman seeks their company and an invaluable Vermeer painting
disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an
international art scandal. As Petra
and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth they must draw on
their powers of intuition, their skills at problem solving, and their knowledge
of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has left even the FBI baffled?
Half
Moon Investigations
By
Eoin Colfer
304 pages
Fletcher Moon has never
been like other kids. For one thing, he has had to suffer the humiliating
nickname "Half Moon" because of his short stature. But the real
reason Fletcher is different is that ever since he was a baby, he's had the
nose for sniffing out mysteries. And let's just say, it's not a skill that has
been appreciated by many people, including his own family. That doesn't bother
Fletcher, though. After graduating at the top of his Internet class, he is
officially certified as the youngest detective in the world. He even has a
silver-plated detective's badge to prove it. Everything is going along fine
until two things happen: a classmate hires him to solve a crime, and his prized
badge is stolen. All signs point to the town's most notorious crime family, the
Sharkeys. As Fletcher follows the clues, evidence of a conspiracy begins to
emerge. But before he can crack the case, Fletcher finds himself framed for a
serious crime. To clear his name, he will have to pair up with the unlikeliest
of allies and go on the run from the authorities. Fletcher has twelve hours to
find the guilty party -- or he is the guilty party.
The House
of Dies Drear
By
Virginia
Hamilton
256 pages
The house held secrets,
Thomas knew, even before he first saw it looming gray and massive on its ledge
of rock. It had a century-old legend--two fugitive slaves had been killed by
bounty hunters after leaving its passageways, and Dies Drear himself, the
abolitionist who had made the house into a station on the Underground Railroad,
had been murdered there. The ghosts of the three were said to walk its rooms.
The
Westing Game
By
Ellen
Raskin
192 pages
This highly inventive
mystery involves sixteen people who are invited to the reading of Samuel W.
Westing's will. They could become millionaires, depending on how they play the
tricky and dangerous Westing game, which involves blizzards, burglaries, and
bombings. Ellen Raskin has entangled a remarkable cast of characters in a
puzzle-knotted, word-twisting plot filled with humor, intrigue, and suspense.
Letters
from Camp
By
Kate Klise
192
pages
The brother-sister pairs
who arrive for the summer at Camp Happy Harmony are almost too busy fighting
with each other to notice how strange the camp really is. Not only are the
campers forced to wear bizarre uniforms, eat gross food, and do chores all day,
but the members of the family that runs the camp fight constantly--with each
other. Are the campers in danger? Or--in spite of sibling wars--do they need to
stick together to solve the mystery humming under the surface of Camp Happy
Harmony.
Montmorency:
Thief, Liar, Gentleman?
By
Eleanor Updale
240
pages
When a petty thief falls though a glass roof
in his attempt to escape from the police, what should have been the death of
him marks the beginning of a while new life. After his broken body is
reconstructed by an ambitious young doctor, he is released from prison,
and--with the help of Victorian London's extensive sewer system--he becomes the
most elusive burglar in the city. He adopts a dual existence as a respectable,
wealthy gentleman named Montmorency, and his degenerate servant Scarper. But
Montmorency must always be on guard. The smallest mistake could reveal his
secret and ruin both his lives.
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