Murder at Hockey Camp

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

These two volumes in the Screech Owls series again find the co-ed peewee
team, consisting of 12- and 13-year-olds, involved in mysteries while
playing hockey.

Of the two titles, Murder at Hockey Camp is much more a mystery than a
sports story. Two teams, the Screech Owls and the Aeros, are spending a
week at the Muskoka Summer Hockey School when Buddy O’Reilly, the
nasty ex-NHLer who runs the camp, is found murdered. Suspicion
immediately falls on the Screech Owls’ coach, Muck Munro, for he had a
motive, means, and opportunity. “Knowing” that Coach Muck could not
have committed the crime, team captain Travis Lindsay, with his
teammates’ help, sets out to find the real killer. Though Travis et
al. do succeed in exonerating Muck, luck, not clever deduction, plays a
major part in their success.

Solving crimes takes a back seat to playing hockey in Kidnapped in
Sweden. The Screech Owls are overseas competing in the inaugural
International Goodwill PeeWee Tournament. The mystery centres on the
Russian mob’s attempt to kidnap and ransom Slava Shadrin, the Russian
peewee superstar. Four Screech Owls, including Travis, become incidental
hostages during the kidnapping, but they later manage to rescue Slava
and subdue his captors. Most of the book’s excitement is generated by
MacGregor’s creation of genuine on-ice action as the Screech Owls
advance through the tournament and ultimately meet the Russians in the
championship game, which is decided by a dramatic sudden-death shootout.


Although the Screech Owls’ former captain, Sarah Cuthbertson, has
graduated to an older team, MacGregor brings her back as a character in
both books. Defenceman Wayne “Nish” Nishikawa continues to offer
comic relief and even finds a little romance in Sweden. Fun reading for
upper-elementary-grade children. Recommended.