Book Review: The Dirty Trick

Book: The Dirty Trick (The Ghost and Max Monroe book #3) by L.M. Falcone

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Max is thrilled when his favorite writer, Rhonda Remington, calls up the detective agency. But Rhonda is less than thrilled: someone has warned her to beware on the night of a big storytelling competition. Max is on the case, but his unusual partner -- the ghost of his great-uncle Larry -- is his usual bumbling self. Will they solve the mystery or lose the plot? It's the spookiest case yet in the Ghost and Max Monroe series!


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

The Dirty Trick is a charming children's mystery book. In this third book in the series, 10 years old Max Monroe was hired by mystery writer Rhonda Remington to find out who was planning a trick on her during a storytelling competition. The winner of the competition will be nominated into the Mystery Hall of Fame. Assisting Max is his Uncle Larry, who by the way is a ghost.

At the competition, Max immediately starts to investigate and found three suspects: Delia Davis: Rhonda's assistant, Nella Norman: Rhonda's competitor and Lew Jacobs: Nella's agent. Will Max be able to find out who is behind everything? Can his Uncle Larry stay focused enough to help?

Despite being a children's book, the mystery was very engaging and fun to read. I enjoyed following the clues and piecing them together to find out who was planning the trick. Since this is for kids, the story is easy to follow.

As a huge mystery fan, this was a delightfully well-written story that has a good blend of humor and kid appropriate drama and suspense as the mystery unfolds.

For parents looking for mystery books for their children, I would recommend The Ghost and Max Monroe series.