Rico Doretti lives at 93 Dieffe Street in Berlin. He knows everyone in his apartment building and their peculiar ways. They all think his ways are peculiar. Rico says that his "lottery machine" gets scrambled up and he just can't think like a normal kid. Rico is autistic.

It's just him and his mom, since his dad passed away. She works in a night club and sleeps a lot during the day. Rico is left alone to entertain himself quit often. At the start of summer vacation, he meets Oscar, a younger kid who wears a bright blue crash helmet. Oscar is different too; he's a genius. He knows all sorts of useless information that Rico could care less about. Rico says he couldn't remember all that information even if he tried.

Recently there have been a series of kidnappings around Berlin, and the kidnapper only asks 2000 Euros for each ransom. That's how he has come to be known as Mr. 2000. One day when Oscar was supposed to visit Rico at his apartment building, Oscar did not show up. Rico waited around a while and then began to look around the area. He found the little pair of red wings which Oscar always wore lying on the ground behind the building.

Something clicks in Rico's head that makes him think Oscar has been kidnapped. He starts out to find the first girl who was kidnapped to see if she can give him any information she did not give the police. His journey is a tough one, since he is directionally challenged. Eventually he takes a taxi to get there. He doesn't learn much from Sophia except that she calls the kidnapper Mr. Jingle-Jangle man.

Back at home he spends time in the thinking chair, moving the "balls" around in his "lottery machine" and putting the clues together. When he can't sleep at night, he sits and stares out the window. Tonight he sees shadowy shadows in the condemned building behind him. A plan begins to emerge. Rico thinks he knows where Oscar is, but can he get to him in time?

THE SPAGHETTI DETECTIVES is a delightful children's story that is the first story by German author Andreas Steinhofel to be translated into English. It's a unique approach to explaining how an autistic child thinks. This amusing mystery is filled with lots of humor and funny definitions that children will surely enjoy.