The Mystery of the Gold Ring

Sheree Haughian is an elementary-school teacher-librarian in
Orangeville, Ontario.

While kid detectives in novels can usually drum up a fair bit of reader
interest by catching neighborhood bullies who steal candy or kidnap pet
cats, an exotic setting can certainly be a boon. It’s just a whole lot
more mysterious. The O’Brien Detective Agency, three preteen sleuths
from Vancouver, have the good fortune to be vacationing at a hotel in
Athens when the gold ring of the Minotaur is stolen from the museum. The
young Canadians suspect one of their compatriots of stealing the Greek
national treasure; they are determined to solve the audacious crime and
restore Canadian honor.

The most intriguing aspect of this novel is the way its extremely
simple plot and language level coexist with sporadic references to
classical phenomena such as the marble statue of Terpsichore. However,
if the allusions, including an updated version of the Theseus myth, are
part of an effort to educate while entertaining, they fall somewhat
short of success. So does the hoaky dialogue, particularly when the
three investigators enter detective mode, calling each other “Chief”
or “Number Two.” It seems perfectly natural that the adolescent
suspects fail to take the “kiddycops” very seriously as they close
in. Modern-day sleuths who act and speak like caricatures of a child
detective are somehow less engaging and heroic than Theseus types from
the old mythologies. Not a first-choice purchase.