With books touching on theft, the Mob, crime-scene investigation, and the U.S. Secret Service, the high-interest Origins: Whodunnit series comes with built-in hooks for middle-schoolers. Laid out to look like old-fashioned case files, each book features four concise chapters that offer a balanced presentation of information, numerous real-life examples, "Did You Know?" fact boxes, relevant illustrations, and approachable writing. Each chapter also features a time line arranged as index cards pinned to a corkboard. Organized Crime highlights the social and economic conditions that gave rise to the Russian and Italian Mafias, China's triad, and Japan's yakuza, calling attention both to the crime and violence inherent to such groups and their glamorous portrayal in pop culture. These attractive, informative books are solid starting points for research and recreational reading.