The circus is in town, pets are missing, and burglaries are taking place in sleepy Green Lawn.

Who's to blame?

Another good mystery that Josh, Ruth Rose, and Dink have to solve.

My daughter always enjoys these mysteries. I didn't care for this one as much as I did some of the others. There weren't as many twists and turns. ( )

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This is a realistic fiction novel/short chapter book about three friends, Dink, Josh and Ruth who become very suspicious when Ruth's cat and Mrs. Davis' (their neighbor) bird go missing around the town's circus season. As they work with a police detective the kids begin to discover that two other neighborhood animals went missing. Overtime the kids connect the returning of the pets to robberies that occur right after, all to discover that they are connected. In the end the police catch the circus clown who was responsible for the missing pets and robberies. ( )

Two ratings for early chapter books, I think. Around a three for me; and these, I think, are a definite four for what they are and who their audience is. I really did some smiling through these and I was pretty impressed with several things (read the first three and will copy this to the others). They seemed to me like they would be really challenging and I liked the addition of the map of the neighborhood in the front. ( )

In this, the third book, I'm really digging into the series, and I can say that I still enjoy these mysteries for beginning chapter books. In The Canary Caper, the three friends are on the trail of kidnappers - or petnappers, to be exact. Four pets disappear in one day in Green Lawn, their quiet little town, and Ruth Rose is convinced this is no coincidence. Part of her determination stems from the fact that her own pet, her cat Tiger, is also missing. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose visit each of the other three owners and hear their stories, and try to infer from the clues why someone would want to steal four animals. Their theories are dashed, though, when a slight young man returns Mrs. Davis's canary to her, and refuses to take the reward. The children soon discover that the other two pet owners also had their beloved animals returned, and also had their rewards refused. In fact, every one except Ruth Rose is reunited with their furry or feathered friends. What can it all mean? The three sleuths know that something fishy is going on, even after the animals are returned, and they are determined to find the solution.

As with previous books, the mystery is original, interesting, and moves at a brisk pace; and while older readers will be able to solve it rather early on in the story, the young target audience should find it just challenging enough. Actually, I had to read several chapters before I was able to put the pieces together, which is a little longer than in the previous books (first chapter). Also, the subject matter is dear to a child's heart, involving pets and the circus. The illustrations continue to be a fun support to the story, and the world of Green Lawn is expanding and developing with more layers. I am quite fond of the characters, and enjoy these reads as quick breaks; I think my girls will like them when they are older. I hope that the stories continue to be fun and fresh, because I know that with mysteries it is hard to always have new clever puzzles. If the books continue in the same vein as this story, I will enjoy reading through the rest of this alphabet series. ( )