How Can I Be a Detective If I Have to Baby-sit?

Joan Buchanan is a children’s storyteller and author of Taking Care of
My Cold and What If I Were in Charge?

Linda Bailey’s second book is a snappy, funny story about 12-year-old
Stevie Diamond. She is on vacation for a month, with her private
detective partner Jesse, at a tree-planting camp that Stevie’s dad
supervises in B.C. When the irritating 5-year-old Alexander, the
cook’s son, blurts out that a crook named Rubberface Ragnall rented
their house and later ransacked it, Stevie can’t resist trying to
solve another serious mystery.

Linda Bailey gives enough background and setting details to interest
the reader without weighing down the text. She uses the first-person
narrative well; descriptions from Stevie’s viewpoint have just the
right amount of flippancy and catchiness. Although we get to know Stevie
best, all the characters are well drawn, and while the story is
humorous, underlying issues, such as making assumptions about people,
are explored. Bailey also handles the mystery elements well. In the
beginning, I jumped to a conclusion about who the culprit was, only to
be proved wrong at the end by Stevie’s creative and logical problem
solving. Stevie is strong and spunky, but she has flaws, which make her
all the more likable.

I haven’t read the first book in the Stevie Diamond Mystery series,
but I’m going to now. If you want an entertaining page-turner with
some depth and believable kids, this is it. Highly recommended.