Children's mystery series. Those three words are a magic combination that will spark my interest any time I see them. So, when I happened across this first book in what was advertised as a new "series" of mysteries, well, it was pretty much a given that I would pick it up and give it a try. The cover art with the four teens and the diamond necklace and old mansion in the background was definitely a draw - but then I saw that not only did the book have internal illustrations (by what appears to be the same artists who did the cover), but that each illustration would hold a clue so that the reader could try to solve the mystery along with the four young detectives - well, that clinched the deal for me!
The North Star is not only the title, but it is the family heirloom that is the central part of this mystery. Sophia Boyd is the daughter of two philanthropists, and her family is hosting a huge fundraising benefit to raise money to help the gibbons (which are a species of small apes found in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia) at Sophia's request. She is even willing to have her grandmother's prized family heirloom, the necklace known as the "North Star," auctioned off to help raise funds. But on the preview night to show-off the sparkling jewel, the necklace disappears - someone at the party has stolen the North Star!
At the same time, twins Zach and Evie Mamuya and their friend, Vishal Desai, are heading home after a fun-filled day of go-karting. Their trip gets side-tracked, however, when Mrs. Mamuya hears of a robbery over her police scanner, and being the good investigative reporter that she is, she heads to the location to get the scoop. She tells the young pre-teens to stay back, but, of course, they don't listen. They decide to take a look at this huge estate, wondering if the back yard has its own tennis court. Instead of a tennis court, though, they discover a small, heavy disk that looks like a hockey puck. Vishal pockets it.
And then they get spotted by Sophia, who wants to know what they are doing in the back yard of her house right after her family's heirloom necklace was stolen...
So begins the first case of what will come to be the Gemini Detective Agency - four young pre-teens who just finished sixth grade and are looking for a mystery to solve. Well, three of them are, anyway. Sophia, who is a bit privileged and entitled, joins forces with the other three begrudgingly in order to find the stolen necklace, but along the way, she learns not only a bit of humility, but she learns what it is like for people who are not born with the silver spoon in their mouth. Author Kat Shepherd provides a unique group of crime solvers - four kids who are from various backgrounds, different skill-sets and temperaments, and socioeconomic statuses, and yet they eventually meld together perfectly to compliment one another's strengths in order to solve a crime that even has the police stumped! (I do have to say that the over-emphasis in the story on how privileged Sophia is as a while person over the "less-fortunate" Zach, Evie, and Vishal, who are all people of color and would be considered minorities in today's climate, feels a bit forced and even a bit political in nature - while I can appreciate the point the author is trying to show, not nearly as many while children are as privileged as Sophia is in this story, nor are all children of color as under privileged as Zach, evie, and Vishal - in fact, none of those three in this mystery feel under privileged at all - their lives read very much like my childhood - normal, lower middle-class status. Nevertheless, I hope that young readers who do read this book will take away from it the fact that all people are the same, regardless of color, race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, or anything else that might label or separate us, and we should treat each other with respect regardless of any of those perceived differences.)
All of that aside, the mystery itself was a lot of fun. There are plenty of suspects, lots of red herrings, and tons of clues. Following along with the Gemini kids as they try to figure out who stole the necklace is quite the adventure - and what makes it even more fun is the fact that each chapter ends with an illustration that holds a clue to move you on to the next chapter! It kind of reminds me of those Zebra Mystery Puzzler books from back in the early '80s, where the mysteries had illustrations inside that could potentially hold clues to the identity of the murderer. In this case, each illustration has a clue (or two) that will help open the door to the next chapter and keep the kids on track to finding the necklace and the thief. As an adult, the clues are pretty obvious (trust me - they aren't hard to spot at all!), but for young readers, I can imagine they aren't quite as obvious and will challenge the readers to study the picture before moving on to the next chapter. Definitely adds some fun to the reading experience!
Overall, the book was a good read, and I would recommend it. The second book is already solicited on Amazon, so I guess we will wait and see if it can sustain the same reading enjoyment level as this one.
RATING: 8 expensive gold wristwatches out of 10 for a new kind of reading experience with a wholly new group of young sleuths!
