Kids' Whodunits: Catch the Clues!

The challenge is on for young amateur sleuths: how do their skills stack up against a brainy pre-teen who helps his detective mom figure out “whodunit?” Ever since Jonah Bixby’s father—also a detective—died in the line of duty, Jonah would come down to the station house after school to wait for his mother to get off work. All the cops took him under their wing, tutoring Jonah and turning him into their unofficial mascot.  In the process, Jonah became a crack crime solver, and these 20 cases, from “After School Homicide” to “Vampire on the Balcony,” are among his most fun and intriguing. They include missing objects, jewel thefts and art heists, murders, accidents, and even some pranks.

Children's Literature

Jonah Bixby is only twelve years old, but he has spent much of his life at police stations. That is because his mother is a police officer. As a result, Jonah has learned a lot about detective work, and he uses his knowledge and expertise help the officers to solve crimes. There are twenty short mysteries in this book, and each ends with Jonah stating that he knows who the criminal is. The reader has an opportunity to analyze the clues and attempt to solve the mysteries on their own. They can then turn to the back of the book to see how Jonah cracked each case. Some of the intriguing case titles are "One Drop of Blood," "The Vampire on the Balcony," and "The Genie, the Movie Star, and the Hobo." Each story has a single page black-and-white illustration that adds to the drama and suspense. Jonah Bixby is a modern-day Encyclopedia Brown, and the mystery genre has a new unlikely hero. Reviewer: Denise Daley