Chasing Shadows: A Shelby Belgarden Mystery

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.

In the third instalment of the Shelby Belgarden mystery series, Shelby,
having just turned 16, has secured her first part-time job at Little
River’s new restaurant, which is run by her cousins Lisa, Ben, and
Carlotta Beniamino. There, Shelby befriends a young waitress, Nadine
Gardiner, who quits her job without notice the day after Shelby,
boyfriend Greg, best friend Betts, and Betts’s boyfriend Derek help
repaint her new apartment. When Shelby goes to Nadine’s apartment to
ascertain her reasons for suddenly leaving the restaurant, Nadine is not
there, and the apartment’s appearance suggests that Nadine has
departed very quickly and without taking anything beyond her purse.

Convinced that Nadine has been abducted, Shelby immediately moves into
sleuth mode, much to boyfriend Greg’s displeasure. He fears that if
there actually has been an abduction, Shelby’s crime-solving attempts
will put her at physical risk. Though Shelby agrees to follow Greg’s
three rules regarding her personal safety, she continually breaks them
while seeking clues and considering suspects. Eventually Shelby solves
the crime, but not before she herself becomes a captive of the
Beniaminos, who have been using the restaurant as a front for their
hydroponic marijuana-growing operation, a fact Nadine had accidentally
stumbled upon. Recommended.