Max Finder Mystery Collected Casebook, Volume 1

In the town of Whispering Meadows there are no lack of cases for Max Finder and his cohort Alison Santos to work on. Finding the culprit can sometimes be very tricky, but between the two of them, their sharp thinking and powers of observation they are great at cracking cases. If you think you can figure out whodunit you are welcome to travel along as they crack ten very sweet and difficult cases at school and around town. Can you cut the mustard and solve them before either one of them claims to know the answer to the mystery? Here are a few cases in this book for the young detectives tried solve: * The Case of the Basketball Card Foul: Ethan Webster, a snotty but decent basketball player, brought his "limited edition McGrady rookie card" to school and someone stole it. A girl called Mega-Con Comics & Cards to inquire about the value of the card and the weekend show. Hmmmm! * The Case of the Midnight Scratcher: Leslie was having a bunch of her friends over for her birthday. She received an "Avril Elliot CD"for her birthday. During the night someone gouged Gabrielle's initials in it. She was also seen up during the night. Did she dislike Avril that much? * The Case of the Stereo-Smashing Spook: Tony's dad donated a stereo as a prize for the school's Halloween dance and he won it when he wasn't supposed to even enter the contest. When no one was looking . . . "CRASH!" It was tossed down the stairs. Gee, did someone hate Tony enough to wreck the stereo? * The Case of the Soapy Switch: Nanda Kanwar was selling chocolate for charity in hopes she would win a snowboard if she sold the most. Someone swiped her chocolate and left soap behind. She was really upset because she was sooooo close to winning. Would they catch the "soap switcher" before the contest was over? The cases in this book are fun, but the reader really has to be observant to figure out whodunit in most of these cases. If you put on your thinking cap and closely observe the scenes of the crime you'll stand a good chance of solving them along with Max and Alison. There will probably be a few that will stump you and you'll have to flip to the back of the book to find the culprit. I enjoyed them all and will not admit how many times I had to peek in the back, if at all. Max is a fact finder and before he presents a new mystery he'll tell you about an interesting fact like "the tongue of a blue whale weighs more than a full-grown elephant." The duo quickly develops a "suspect list" and work hard to solve their mysteries. Of course guys like Basher McGintley, the "Planet's biggest bully," always seem to be the type I'd suspect, but these little mysteries are so well done it really is hard to peg the culprit at times. In addition to the cases there are numerous puzzles and "extra stuff" to do. If you have a youngster who enjoys the graphic novel format and loves a good mystery, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at this collected casebook.