Carlos doesn't know how to solve mysteries, but he'll do anything to help save his mom's detective agency. When a flu prevents her from taking up a big case, Carlos turns to his best friend, Eliza, and her little brother, Frank, to solve the mystery. From here, the mystery becomes an interactive choose-your-own-adventure: readers can help them interview suspects, find clues, close the case, and save Carlos' mom's career. The characters are real kids dealing with real worries. Carlos is so concerned about money that he takes on the near-impossible task of solving a case for his mother, but it's this concern that makes him endearing. The various options mean the story takes on a new flavor with every reading. The puzzles are based in learning, so readers work to solve each clue before moving on to the next. Frank's personality is spot-on for a six-year-old; he lights up every scene with his sincere innocence. Magaziner (Wizardmatch, 2018) blends the fun of interactive stories with a suspenseful mystery and delightful characters.

The "choose your own adventure" genre gets another reboot in Magaziner's (Wizardmatch, 2018) newest.Protagonist Carlos lives in a run-down house with his single mom, who owns a down-and-out private detective agency. When his mom wakes up ill on the morning she is to meet with a wealthy new client, Carlos takes matters into his own hands. Accompanied by his best friend, Eliza, and with her distractible younger brother, Frank, in tow, the amateur sleuth sets off to discover who has been sending death threats to well-heeled widow Guinevere LeCavalier. The adventure is told through first-person narrative rather than the second-person common to the genre, so readers see the story through Carlos' eyes as they assist in solving puzzles, mazes, and other brain teasers to get to the bottom of the mystery. Pitfalls are everywhere, with over two dozen possible endings, and only a few of them are happy. Most of the endings are sillly and clearly intended to be humorous hyperbole, but the endings that result in financial ruin for Carlos and his mom border on ridicule. Readers who themselves know the anxiety of an unemployed or underemployed parent and the reality of living paycheck to paycheck are unlikely to find much humor in these catastrophes. Carlos is Latinx, while Eliza and Frank are white.Mildly amusing, though a sudoku book might be a better investment. (Adventure. 8-12)