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The Baby Sitters Club Mystery #1

The Baby Sitters Club Mystery #1 is an amazing story about a girl name Stacy and her club. There is a thief in town who is stealing valuable items! She baby-sat at the Garcia’s one night and after she went home the Mrs. Garcia’s precious ring was gone. Mrs. Garcia blamed stacy! She did not steal the ring though but wanted to prove she did not steal it. Mrs. Garcia said she would have to call her club and all the people they sit for about Stacy stealing the ring (which she did not do). Her most trusting friends even began to grow with suspicion. What will happen to the babysitters club? This is an amazing book read it yourself and see how amazing it really is. I mean a mystery + baby sitters club= pure awesomeness. You have to read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( )

After enjoying my rereads of the first four books in the series, I picked up this one. I love mysteries, and combining that genre with a fun nostalgic read seemed like a sure hit. I did enjoy this book, but more for the characters and the typical elements of the Babysitters Club series than for the mystery.

Stacey takes on a new client, a rich and rather odd couple who are amiable and friendly. Until they call Stacey's mom the next morning and accuse Stacey of stealing the woman's diamond ring. To make matters worse, Stacey had had a fight with her mom only days earlier because she desperately wanted to buy a diamond ring and her mother refused. Nonetheless, her mom adamantly defends her against the Gardellas's accusations, and the other members of the club believe her, but Stacey is still upset. What will happen to their business if the Gardellas tell their other clients that the babysitters are thieves?

The mystery itself was too tame for my taste. The diamond ring disappears, and for most of the book the girls wonder what could have happened, but no sleuthing occurs. At the very end of the novel, Stacey manages to secure entry into the house, but not to look for a solution to the mystery, just to clear her good name by working off the price of the ring. She stumbles on the location of the ring by chance. I like more clues and suspects and red herrings in my mysteries, be they for older or younger audiences.

In the end, the book was a fun read, much at a level with books in the regular Babysitters series. The recounts of their babysitting exploits are always fun. I had hoped for a stronger mystery element and was disappointed by its lack; it was more like another entry in the original series than a special mystery selection. Hopefully, the future books in this spin-off series will feature tighter mysteries. ( )

Great book, BCS + mystery = win! ( )