Stephanie Zvirin (Booklist, Sep. 15, 2003 (Vol. 100, No. 2))
Quirky is the operative word for Jennings' previous novels, and this one is possibly the most outrageously imaginative yet. The curious cover photo--a grasshopper, a pile of popcorn, and a piece of plaid fabric--sets the tone for not one mystery as the title implies, but three: What happened to Mr. Farley, Mt. Mole Middle School's disagreeable assistant principal? What's that rumbling issuing from Mt. Mole, the odd, solitary mound rising from the flatlands surrounding the town that takes its name? And who is Andrew J. Forrest's father? Precocious, 13-year-old Andy, whose vocabulary and dreamy philosophizing makes him seem like a grown-up stuck in middle school by mistake (except when pretty Georgia Wayne is around) is the narrator here, a bumbling, truly dedicated fan of both Mt. Mole and the odd characters (Andy being one himself) who live there. Before the separate stories come together in one literally slam-bang conclusion, readers are treated to lots of tongue-in-cheek humor and some genuine surprises revolving around the larger-than-life Mt. Mole populace and the small town in which they live. It's a large-hearted entertaining burlesque, set in a world apart yet still very recognizable. Category: Books for Older Readers--Fiction. 2003, Houghton/Walter Lorraine, $15. Gr. 6-9. (CLCD)

While twelve-year-old Andrew J. Forrest searches for Mr. Farley, the very unpopular assistant principal at Mt. Mole Middle School, strange things are happening on the town's namesake hill.