The Devlin Quick Mysteries - Book Three, Secrets from the Deep

Not gonna lie here - this third Devlin Quick book was not up to par with the last book. Which is a shame, as I've come to like the character and her supporting cast.  After a disappointing first book, but a much better second book, I was really looking forward to this one. Sadly, author Linda Fairstein couldn't match the success of the last one...

Secrets from the Deep refers to a gold doubloon that Devlin, her best friend Booker, and his little cousin, Zee, find while vacationing at Martha's Vineyard. The plot itself is not too bad - where did the doubloon come from, is it real, who owns it, and what will certain unscrupulous people do in order to get their hands on such a valuable coin? Some definite plot-points for a great mystery!  I just wish Fairstein hadn't used the first two-thirds of the book to simply spend time having the kids recite historical, geographical, and marine facts - there were parts where I was beginning to feel as if I were reading an encyclopedia and not a mystery.

Secrets from the Deep opens with Devlin and Booker on vacation at Martha's Vineyard. Devlin is attempting to secure some water and sand that might hold some fish scales to use for her school project that is coming due. But when they come across a gold doubloon that they soon discover is the real thing, Devlin begins to suspect there is more to the doubloon than meets the eye.  And while it takes some time (meaning a LOT of chapters) before the mystery really gets going, the kids do meet some rather shady and mysterious characters who could potentially be suspects in the mystery of who is trying to get that doubloon!

There's Artie Constant, the old lighthouse keeper - he has a very insistent interest in that doubloon. There's also Cole Bagby, the father of a boy that has been bullying Zee - he claims to be a coin collector who shows an unusually keen interest in the doubloon. And there's Jenny Thaw, the descendant of the infamous Thaw family who are believed to have harbored pirates back in the day - she has some secrets that could hold the clue to the truth about the doubloon.

So, as you can see, there were some definitely interesting choices for villains.  And the final third of the book, where Devlin and Booker head off to a coin convention and ultimately come face-to-face with the villains who are after that doubloon, finally hits the mark for a good, fast-paced mystery that engages the reader and keeps the pages turning. It's just a shame that it took so long in the story to get to that point.

Not sure what to think of this series after this book.  It has its good points, and I do like the character (and the fact that her mother is the police chief); but the writing and pacing just isn't really strong enough to really keep my attention.  Don't see that there is any fourth book listed yet, so perhaps this is the last book in the series - which, if that were the case, I would not be overly disappointed.  If a fourth book does materialize, however, I just don't know whether I would get it or not (of course, saying that, the completist in me says I have to have it to ensure I have the whole series).

Only time will tell....

RATING:  5 bottles of red nail polish out of 10 for keeping the "female sleuth" genre going for the younger generations.

The Devlin Quick Mysteries - Book Two, Digging for Trouble

Any good sleuth worth their grain of salt loves to dig for clues - and young detective-wannabe Devlin Quick is no exception. Only this time, she's digging for real, as she and her best friend, Katie, are in the badlands of Montana for a week in the summer to help dig for fossils.  When Katie stumbles across a few bones, she and Devlin are hoping they might actually be dinosaur bones. But their hopes are quickly dashed when the bones are switches, and it appears the paleontologist and his assistants are up to no good, it's Devlin Quick on the case!

Digging for Trouble is the second book in his quirky new children's mystery series, and author Linda Fairstein actually gives readers a mystery without beating us over the head with social and political correctness.  This time around, it's just Devlin and her friends solving a mystery.  And I give Fairstein credit on this one - she includes a lot of credible information about a dinosaur dig, but allows it to come across naturally through dialogue and interaction among the characters.  It's also nice to see a writer utilize modern technology without making it overly easy for her sleuth to ferret out the truth.  Devlin uses her cell phone camera, she takes advantage of her mom's position as police chief to utilize police search programs, and she even makes use of a CT scan in an unexpected way that helps her come to a startling revelation about the bones Katie found.

Another great thing about this mystery is that although Devlin has a certain amount of freedom due to her mom's job, she is still responsible enough to always let a grown-up know what's going on (even if they don't believe her) and calls them for help when she's in trouble.  It's also nice to see Devlin depend more on her friend, Booker, who plays a large part in the mystery once Katie and Devlin return to New York - where, interestingly enough, most of the mystery and the action takes place.  And even I learned something new from this book - apparently the Museum in New York hosts sleepovers for children!  I thought that Devlin's plan to surprise her best friend with a sleepover at the museum (which was actually a cover to allow her and Booker to investigate) was simply something made up by the author - but a quick look at the American Museum of Natural History's website reveals that they do indeed host sleepovers, and not just for children - adults have their own special sleepover nights as well!

While there is not a  lot of danger, per se, until the very end when Devlin confronts the culprit responsible for the theft of Katie's dinosaur bones, the mystery is still quite engaging as Devlin follows up on clues, goes with her gut-instinct, and doesn't ignore her suspicions.  The author fills the book with more than enough characters, most of whom were introduced in the first book, but some we meet for the first time (such as Kyle, the boy that Katie likes out in Montana) and Ling Soo (one of the college students on the dinosaur dig who I hope we see again in future mysteries).

Plus, let's face it - anyone who dedicates her book to Nancy Drew and Joe and Frank Hardy "who taught me everything I needed to know about sleuthing" - well, that pretty much says it all.  (Of course, that's not the only Nancy Drew reference - on page 33, when talking about Devlin, Katie tells Ling that "She thinks she's a detective.  Dev carries that [magnifying glass] almost everywhere she goes because that's what Nancy Drew did."

ONE LAST NOTE - I would be remiss if I didn't point out that, as with so many books published today, there was an editing snafu - on page 4, the author talks about the backyard belonging to the Cion family - but instead of saying "Cions' backyard," she refers to it as "Cion's backyard" (meaning one person's backyard, not an entire family's backyard).  And while only one missed grammatical error may not seem like much, it is just an unpleasant reminder of the lack of true editing in today's book market.

RATING:  9 ninety-four foot long blue whales out of 10 for improving on the quality of the mystery and the quirkiness of the young detective, all the while keeping it fun and engaging!

The Devlin Quick Mysteries - Book One, Into the Lion's Den

It appears that perhaps mystery series are starting to make a comeback in the young adult / children's sections.  Wells & Wong mysteries.  The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency mysteries.  the Curious Cat Spy Club mysteries, the mysteries of Maisie Hitchens, Young & Yang mysteries, the Friday Barnes mysteries, the Amanda Lester mysteries, and now ... the Devlin Quick mysteries!

So far, I've been fortunate.  The series that I have picked up have, for the most part, managed to be well-written with great plots and interesting characters.  A couple of friends read this first Devlin Quick mystery before I did and had good things to say about it. So, I went into it with a bit higher hopes than I probably should have.

Into the Lion's Den is not something I would call "off to a good start" as far as mystery series goes.  The plot is actually interesting - a friend of Devlin's is a witness to a thief cutting a map from a very valuable book in the New York Public Library, but no one believes her.  Devlin, of course, does and helps her friend not only prove that she was telling the truth, but track down and reveal the identity of the culprit (who, as it turns out, has been stealing maps from antique books in libraries for some time).  Devlin is quick-thinking and determined (similar to Nancy Drew), but as with many of the young adult mysteries these days, she is only 12 years old.

Maybe I'm dating myself here, but I remember reading children's mysteries about older teenagers (anywhere from 16 to 18 years old), which, in a way, gave me something to look forward to when I got that age.  They inspired me, in some degree, to strive to do better, to help others, and to realize I could do anything I wanted.  Sure, the teenage detectives were somewhat rebellious in nature, bucking the system that told them they couldn't do these things with adults who did not take them seriously.  But this trend in recent years to have detectives who are 12 years old, or thereabout, just doesn't work for me.  Yes, the stories may be good, but the idea that 12-year olds have as much freedom as these kids to and are able to get around and do things without parental supervision is stretching the line of believability.  Perhaps that is the trade off for all of today's technology that the teenage sleuths of yesteryear didn't have - computers, internet, cell phones, etc.

Regardless, the book does have the obligatory Nancy Drew reference (as every mystery about a female sleuth set in the present time has to do).  While investigating the library, they come across a sign up sheet for WOMEN IN CRIME FICTION: NANCY DREW TO JANE MARPLE (p. 196). Then, just one page later, when Devlin's friend shows signs of being scared, Devlin remarks, "Really?  Do you think Nancy Drew let every little thing scare the daylights out of her?"  Still nice to see that Nancy Drew remains the icon when it comes to female sleuths.

Unfortunately, none of that was enough to make me enjoy the book.  The author, Linda Fairstein, weaves a pretty good plot, but sadly, she seems to rely so heavily on having Devlin explain everything - and I do mean EVERYTHING!  From explaining who Teddy Roosevelt was, to what a facial recognition system is (in excrutciating detail), the fact that the library holds things other than just books, what carbon paper is (seriously?), what a subpoena is and how it is used, who Andrew Carnegie was, and so many other things.  In fact, it got to the point where any time an historical person or a technological item was mentioned, I could count on an overly-detailed explanation to follow.  Clearly, Fairstein does not give her readers credit for knowing things they should know - - either that, or she had a certain page count she wanted to read and figured padding the story with needless explanations would fill those pages.  Either way, it became distracting and, quite honestly, ruined my enjoyment of the story overall.

And editing seems to be a thing of the past (as my reading friends and I have discovered in recent years).  Not exactly sure what editors do these days, but it appears not to be actual editing.  For instance, one of the suspects is said to own a bookstore called "Blogett Books" on page 183 - - yet, just 23 pages later, that same suspect is said to own a bookstore called "Buckhead Books."  Honestly, how hard is it to remember a name you've given a bookstore, especially within 20 pages of each mention?

Would I recommend this series to mystery fans?  I doubt it.  Will I purchase a second book in the series if one comes out?  That remains to be seen...

RATING:  4 marble lion statues out of 10 for centering a mystery around a library and for giving Devlin a grandmother who is one to be reckoned with!