I So Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy

 
Stars: ***1/2
Genre: Mystery, ghosts
Pages: 264
Series: There are currently three sequels
     Sherry's plans for spring break include hanging out with her friends, playing video games, and getting Josh, her crush, to notice her. She isn't happy when her dad and new stepmother decide to send her to San Diego while they enjoy their honeymoon. But things change when her mother's ghost shows up. She needs Sherry's help solving a mystery at the San Diego Zoo. Who is messing with the rhinos? Is it a worker at the ostrich farm next door? Or a chef at a restaurant that specializes in exotic foods? And what is she supposed to do when Josh shows up?
     I So Don't Do Mysteries is fun, light read, and a well written mystery.

The Lady Grace Mysteries by Grace Cavendish

 
 

Rating of series as a whole: ****
Genre: Mystery, historical fiction, action
Average number of pages: Around 200
Series: There are currently twelve books, but it's an alphabetical series so there will eventually be twenty-six. Hmm...what will they do for x and z?
     Lady Grace Cavendish is Maid of Honor to Queen Elizabeth I, but she doesn't always act like a proper lady. She has little interest in finding a husband, makes friends with a laundry maid and an acrobat, climbs trees when nobody is looking, and occasionally shoots flaming arrows at pirate ships. It's all part of her job as Lady Pursuivant, aka the queen's personal detective.
     What I like most about these books is Grace's personality. She's not a typical lady or a stereotypical tomboy. She's comfortable living in a world of needlepoint projects, but she would rather be writing in her journal (Oh, yes, the books are written in diary format). And then there's her attitude towards boys. She has a guy friend and is actually engaged in the first book (though it obviously doesn't work out) but she doesn't really care about boys-even the handsome actor she meets in book six.
     The Lady Grace Mysteries are short, captivating books I'd suggest for fans of historical fiction, mystery, action, people who don't like complicated books, and avid readers who want a light read between reading more complex books.
   
     

The Invisible Detective: The Paranormal Puppet Show by Justin Richards

         
     Rating: ****
     Genre: Mystery, historical fiction, sci fi, paranormal
     Series: There are eight books. This is the first one
      Also published as Double Life.
     London, 1930's: The Invisible Detective is brilliant at locating missing children and pets, but nobody knows who he is...except for the four children who solve crimes in his name. But Arthur "Art" Drake, Meg, Johnny, and Flinch are facing their strangest case yet. A magician, two assistants, and an eerie collection of "paranormal puppets" move into town around the time an important politician goes missing. And could the puppets possibly be moving around in the night?
     London, Today: Arthur Drake ducks into an antique shop to get away from the rain and finds the Invisible  Detective's casebook. Strangely, his name and address are written in the book-and in his own handwriting. And why does he find he can remember things about the Invisible Detective that the casebook doesn't mention?

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