Spying on Dracula

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

What has six legs, two private eyes, and a cold wet nose? It’s the
junior detective team of 10-year-old Jennie Levinsky and Sam the
sheepdog. When Jennie and Sam first met, Jennie was shocked to discover
that she could read Sam’s thoughts. “I thought you’d be able
to,” Sam said. “Most dogs are too stupid to notice when someone has
this special gift. Very few people have it, and I can always tell.”
Sam belongs to Jennie’s grown-up neighbors, Joan and Bob, who hired
Jennie as a dog walker because they thought Sam could use the exercise.
But instead of exercise, Sam wants mystery.

In Spying on Dracula, Sam and Jennifer discover a spooky old house in
their neighborhood. It belongs to a strange recluse named McIvor who
never appears in daylight and never lets anyone—even delivery
boys—past his front porch. When they notice a huge bat hanging from a
tree branch nearby, the detective duo decide that weird old McIvor must
be a vampire and set out to prove it.

In The Ghost of Captain Briggs, Sam and Jennifer find themselves
spending a summer vacation in a creaky old lakeside mansion. One night,
they hear a mysterious thumping noise coming from the attic. When they
hear from a local kid that the house was built by a murderous pirate
named Briggs, Jennifer is terrified that they are being haunted by his
ghost, but Sam is overjoyed because he knows that pirate ghosts can also
mean buried treasure.

Humor fills both these page-turners by author Mary Labatt. Sam is a bit
of a curmudgeon but only Jennifer can hear her fuzzy friend’s tart
commentary. Jennifer and Sam’s detective antics often lead to
hilarious results, making these two mysteries highly enjoyable for
intermediate readers. Highly recommended.