Roxanne Heide Pierce

Picked this up for a quick read and that it is.

Jay Temple and his sister, Cindy, and their friend Dexter Tate are the publishers of a local newspaper called the 'Random Review'. It is a small publication of local news. They also comprise the membership of the Spotlight Club: detectives of a sort that have solved a few mysteries. They are school age kids, living in a the small town of Kenoska. The feel is of the 1950s era.

When Jay is doing some clean-up work in Mr. Pruitt's yard, he finds an Egyptian mask, wrapped up and hidden in the yard. He shows it to Mr. Pruitt, who takes it and says he will handle it.

When he tells Cindy and Dexter about it, they do a short write-up and add it to the new edition of the 'Random Review'. Things turn strange when the printer's shop is broken into and their master copy is stolen. Nothing else is missing, just their paper.

Later, Jay has biked out towards the country and found an old abandoned house. When he enters it, he finds that somebody has been staying there, and there are some large crates that seem to contain stuff. He doesn't know what, but figures it must be valuable.

The mystery involves who are the people that have put the crates there, what is in them, who is this 'Lon's Lawn Service' that has suddenly shown up and where did Mr. Pruitt go with the mask.

It is geared towards elementary readers as it is a chapter book and it does have some illustrations. But it is a fun visit back to a simpler and slower time for grown-ups to enjoy.… (más)