Featuring Sammy of Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief, this highly readable mystery hits the ground running. Both as amateur sleuth and precariously perched seventh grader, Sammy is daring, brash, and cool-headed as they come. She may not go looking for trouble, but trouble always seems to find her--a good omen for future entries in this high-quality, high-amp mystery series.

The live-wire young sleuth who debuted in Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (p. 502) catapults into another headlong caper after scotching a murder attempt on Halloween. Nerving themselves to approach a spooky house while out trick-or-treating, Sammy and her friends find the door open, a fire set on the floor and reclusive old Chauncey LeBard tied to a chair. A robbery, it seems—but what's missing? Books, as it turns out: a collection of high-spot first editions. Being incurably nosy, Sammy commences to pry with a will, meanwhile countering hateful classmate Heather's latest sly attempt at character assassination by setting up a devastating public denouement. As readers of the first book know, it's not as if Sammy's life isn't already complicated; she lives illegally with her grandmother in modest seniors-only housing while her mother is pursuing Hollywood dreams, has to fend off a suspicious neighbor, and keep up with her schoolwork in the face of multiple distractions. Artfully throwing in clues, red herrings, and well-timed revelations, Van Draanen keeps her heroine on the hop, surrounding her with typecast age mates but distinctly drawn, individual adults, most of whom were introduced in the previous book. Sammy is as resourceful and tough as ever, and the breathless pace of this adventure will rivet readers from page one. (Fiction. 10-12)

Gr 5-8-While living a surreptitious life sneaking in and out of Gram's adults-only apartment complex, Sammy observes the unusual in the usual world. Halloween finds her and her friends mustering nerve to wend their way through dense shrubbery to the front door of scary Bush House to trick-or-treat when they are nearly knocked down by a "skeleton man" scurrying away with his loot in a pillow case. Sammy peers into the house to discover it's on fire, rescues its owner, and becomes embroiled in his family history. Her quick switches between adult intuitiveness and childish pranks are in keeping with a personality that neither thinks twice about rushing into a burning house nor about exposing the misdemeanors of a classmate via the school's public-address system. Only Sammy and a few other characters are developed to any extent. The nosy neighbor, the weak grandmother, and the cantankerous cops are examples of stereotyped adults. Sammy's classmates run the gamut of sweet and naive friends to snide and snotty enemies. However, readers will enjoy the mystery, hijinks, plotting, and adult comeuppance. Occasional black-and-white drawings illustrate the book. A fun read, particularly for fans of the previous book about this young sleuth.-Lynda Short, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Lexington, KY