Would have been better if I had read Down the Rabbit Hole first. Very American; children going to see Monster Trucks, and playing soccer; having their daily newspapers delivered to their front lawns...the story mostly reminded me of Ruby Redfort by Lauren Child; a child amateur sleuth who gets kidnapped, escapes, and tries to prove her doubtful story. I felt the story was slow paced and lingered too much on the soccer games whilst it rushed through the adventure parts. I did like the inclusion of the St Joseph statues being used as talisman for estate agents. ( )

I enjoyed this predictable tale. My only complaint would be about the sheer amount of unnecessary foul language. Far too much considering this book's target audience is middle schoolers. ( )

An avid Sherlock Holmes fan, eighth grader Ingrid Levin-Hill is kidnapped while investigating mysterious happenings in her home town.

Thirteen year-old Ingrid has noticed a sudden change in her fourteen year-old brother; mainly that he's now benching two hundred pounds and hanging out with an older loser who has more money than he should. Ingrid's dad is different too since his boss hired a new employee who is overly aggressive and spouts the motto, "Whatever It Takes." And someone is filing complaints with the city to try and have her grandfather's farm taken from him. Since Ingrid takes most of her advice from Sherlock Holmes, her nosiness is noticed quickly and makes her a target for a kidnapping attempt, but no one, including the police chief, believes her, so she has to solve all the family mysteries herself.

This is the second "Echo Falls Mystery", after Down the Rabbit Hole, which I read last year. I liked that one better- it was more everything. Fun, more tense as it began with a murder , more convincingly in the voice of a young but intelligent girl (the author is male and looks to be mid-50's). While I still like Ingrid here, the author seemed to write in his own tastes for hers: she loves the 40's Sherlock Holmes movies, the 60's version of "The Producers", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", drinks Fresca? It was a little weird. I'll continue the series as it's a a good story to relax with. ( )

Synopsis: Ingrid becomes suspicious when mysterious things start happening at Echo Falls. There's her brother Ty, who has started become very moody and developed pimples down his back. Her Dad, who she sees on a job hunting website. Her new soccer coach who knocks the old coach unconscious. And her grandfather who is being pressured to sell his property. Ingrid decides to investigate.
My Opinion: A quick and easy read that encouraged the reader to also put on their detective shoes. ( )