Thea Stilton, Book Three - Ghost of the Shipwreck

It's been a while since I've read one of these Thea Stilton titles, and quite frankly, I had considered just giving them up - read what I had already bought, put them on the shelf, and then forget about them.  However, after reading this third mystery in the series, it rejuvenated my interest in the series a bit, and I may pick up a few more...

Thea Stilton and the Ghost of the Shipwreck is a fun story about not one, but two different treasures that the "Thea Sisters" find!  As with the prior book, Thea Stilton is little more than the narrator for the framing sequences, and the five mouselings - Nicky, Colette, Pamela, Paulina, and Violet - are actually the mystery-solving protagonists.

As the title and cover would suggest, the story opens with the girls stumbling into a mystery surrounding a legend about a ship that supposedly sank just off the coast off Whale Island, where the girls attend school.  Before you know it, Professor Ian van Kraken goes missing, and it's up to the girls to find him!  In an unknown-to-the-reader-at-the-time subplot, a new nautical transport company is making waves (yes, pun intended!) as its owner takes business away from the previously sole source of transportation on and off Whale Island.  With his new hydrofoil ferry, Captain Coral is able to transport people much faster than the old transport.  Of course, the reader has to wonder if there is another reason this new Captain has set shore on the island.

Meanwhile, the girls finally locate Profession van Kraken - but in doing so, they not only discover the remains of the sunken ship, but also find the treasure long thought lost to the world.  The only problem is, they aren't the only ones who were looking for it.  The girls end up kidnapped aboard the boat of someone they thought they could trust, and it is only by a stroke of luck they manage to escape and see the criminal brought to justice.

But wait!  There's more!

The mystery of the shipwreck only fills about half the book; the remaining half is devoted to yet another treasure hunt, as an old friend of Violet's asks the girls to come to Beijing to help him solve a mystery about another treasure.  Of course, the girls jump at the change and are soon whisked away to China.  Once there, Xiao shows them a unique lacquer box her mother purchased, but which a mysterious Madame Hu is desperate to obtain.  The girls soon discover the box is a map to a treasure of the Jade Princess, and it becomes a race to see whether they can beat Madame Hu to the treasure!

It's interesting the author chose to basically combine two mysteries into one - and with the cover and title what they are, it comes as a jarring surprise when barely halfway through the story the girls solve the mystery surrounding the shipwreck and go off on a secondary adventure.  At the same time, it was a bit refreshing to have two relatively quick mysteries solved in the span of one book and both of them to be fairly enjoyable.

The reading level for this book is listed on the back as "RL3" - which I would assume means Reading Level 3.  When I did a search online, different sites gave different age levels for these books - some indicated the books are aimed at grades 4 - 6, while others indicate grades 2 - 5.  I'd have to say, the books are a bit complex for beginning readers, but they are definitely pre-Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys level books.  Whatever the target level, I'd say if you or your child enjoy some fun, easy-to-read mysteries, then this is the series to read.

RATING:  6 hydraulic dredgers out of 10 for keeping the fun in easy to read mysteries for all ages!