Kirkus Reviews

“With a tone that falls somewhere between Lemony Snicket and the dialogue from Dragnet, Torrey’s (The Case of the Graveyard Ghost, 2002, etc.) third addition to her science series for young readers is sure to please. Solid information is sandwiched between hilariously unlikely situations. The small town of Mossy Lake is filled with young science detectives and mysteries of all sorts. One snotty girl has gotten herself caught in her laundry bin, roses are wilting at the garden show, a ghost is haunting the fine folks, and someone is selling endangered parrots. Mossy Lake is a hotbed of crime; thank goodness heroes Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey are on the scene. Unfortunately, archenemy Frisco often arrives to steal their clients. Torrey successfully blends science with humor and follows the short, amusing stories with clear explanations of the scientific principles. Comic black-and-white illustrations add to the humor. Curious readers will surely wish to blast an egg out of PVC piping, test the principle of capillary action and figure out the mystery of Pepper’s ghost. Accessible, understandable, and hilarious science for the youngest problem solvers.“

School Library Journal - (Gr. 2-4)

“In the third installment of this series, Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey continue to use their love of science to solve mysteries. The four cases presented here include the extraction of a classmate trapped in her laundry chute, the identification of who or what is menacing the annual Budding Botanists Junior Rose Club competition, the hair-raising revelation of the ghost of the Old Mossy Graveyard, and exposing the culprits involved in the illegal sale of rare Diamond Tipped Parrots. The fifth-grade detectives are aided by their parents and Nell’s dog, Dr. Livingston. The end of the book presents activities and experiments for readers to pursue in their efforts to become junior science detectives. The stories move quickly, holding readers’ interest. The resolutions are viable and the elements used to crack each case are based on scientific principles. The main characters are believable and thoroughly engaging. Pencil illustrations complement the tales. Early chapter-book readers will be enchanted with the deductive skills and humor of Doyle and Fossey, whose adventures will remind the readers of Cam Jansen and Einstein Anderson.”

Children’s Literature

“Fifth-graders Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey use detective and science methods to solve a variety of cases told in two or three chapters apiece. Each story has a science activity tangentially related to the story. For instance, the detectives improbably use baking soda and vinegar to blast Sloane, a stuck-up snob, out of her laundry chute and the activity suggested is to blast a hardboiled egg out of a tube. The facetious stories feature snappy dialogue, every child’s dream of supportive parents who supply transportation and equipment with perfect trust in their children, and two foils in Sloane and her pal Frisco. Scientific principles of reflections and capillary action plus ideas about codes and illegal wildlife trade are introduced in the mystery and explored in the back matter. More hip than the Einstein Anderson prototype on which they’re based, these stories appeal to readers who don’t mind a little hyperbole in the telling. It’s not a Halloween collection as much as a ghost-and-mystery one.”