THE MASTERMIND PLOT, the second adventure of girl sleuth
Suzanna Snow, has a solid plot and will engage the middle
grade set for which it's written. That said it doesn't
quite have the panache, depth of character, details of
setting and time of its predecessor, The Midnight Tunnel.
This says more for the brilliance of the earlier book than
anything particularly lacking in THE MASTERMIND PLOT. The
second book focuses more on the adventure rather than the
mystery in my opinion, and the characters: Zanna's sort-of
friend, Adele, her father, Grandma and even Will, didn't
have the weight of those individuals in the earlier novel.
The mystery itself is fairly straightforward, too without
the misdirection and details I so loved in the earlier book.
Suzanna arrives in Boston, a city she's wanted to visit
ever since hearing all of the exploits of her famous uncle,
Detective Bruce Snow. While Grandma and Will are happy to
see her, Uncle Bruce appears less than pleased and wants
here to stay out of his current case. Someone has been
starting fires in warehouses along the docks, and priceless
art has been lost. Zanna wants to know who's been starting
them and is determined to find out. Then a mysterious man
starts following her around who could possibly be the
murder.
Zanna is a terrific character: she's got spunk in spades
although she's still very definitely an 11-year-old girl.
Sometimes she seems too smart for her own good, but then
her innocence will show through. I'm definitely a fan and
look forward to a new adventure although I'd like to see it
back at her parents' resort or for the author to take more
advantage of the rich setting Boston has to offer.
A new, exciting Suzanna Snow adventure!Suzanna "Zanna" Snow
can hardly believe her luck: She's just arrived in Boston,
the city she's wanted to visit for as long as she can
remember. Think of all the mysteries waiting to be solved
here! Her grandmother and cousin, Will, welcome her warmly,
but her famous detective uncle, Bruce Snow, seems anything
but pleased. He doesn't want Zanna meddling in his current
case involving a string of mysterious warehouse fires along
the harbor front. But Zanna can't help herself. Is someone
setting the fires? Just when she thinks she's on to
something, a strange man starts following her. Is he a
threat? Zanna needs to solve the case before she has the
chance to find out.