Max Finder Mystery Collected Casebook

Gr 4—8—Max Finder and his friend Alison often work together to solve mysteries that happen in and around their Canadian hometown of Whispering Meadows. Ten of the stories are in comic form, and three are straight narratives, but they all have the same basic structure: a crime is committed, the kids collect clues and interview suspects, and Max or Alison announces that he or she knows who the culprit is. Readers then turn the page to see whodunit and why. Because the short stories originally appeared serialized in Owl magazine, the episodes can be somewhat repetitive, an issue that may be solved simply by not reading the book cover to cover. The mysteries also seem a bit too easy to solve—sometimes readers can successfully intuit the guilty party without the benefit of any of the clues at all. Still, they're a lot of fun, and the addition of visual clues to the familiar minute-mystery format enhances the enjoyment. The good news is that for fans of Max Finder, there are three previous volumes to devour.—Jason M. Poole, Webster Public Library, NY