An absolute delightful audiobook, so exceptional a job well-done by narrator, Steven Boyer. A well-crafted story with a protagonist, Scooter King, you just can't help but root for, plus lots of interesting magic and escapist reveals about Houdini too. ( )

Scooter King becomes part of a murder mystery when he tries to sneak a peak at Harry Houdini's Chinese Water Torture Chamber. Will Scooter be the next victim? A fun read with interesting details about Houdini and psychic mediums. ( )

I didn't really like this book. It was way too mystery cliche. Honestly. So, Scooter lives w/ his mom, who is a fake medium, during the '20's. And Harry Houdini comes to town, and he is going to expose all the fake mediums. Well, this guy dies in Houdini's underwater tank & there is a big fuss to find out the killer. The police investingation is so fake. Wow. But I have to say, the author wrote the book where the characters were all over the place! One minute Scooter's at the house, the next he's being followed by some "mystery man." I feel the author didn't make good transitions from point A to point B. The ending was kinda strange. You find out the killer, but you're left hanging. It was hard to finish this book. ( )

In 1926, magician Harry Houdini arrives in the city to perform magic and to expose fraudulent mediums but thirteen-year-old Scooter King, who works for his mother making her séances seem real, needs Houdini's help to solve a murder.

Lawrence does a great job of taking the reader back into the historical time period. Speakeasies, flappers, con artists, prohibition... I felt like I was there. I don't know how much kids would enjoy it, but I found it interesting. ( )