by Thomas Olis (2026)
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
When I won "The Case of The Grounded Ferry" a few months ago, the book wasn't ready. The author, Tom Olis, emailed me his first two books in the series to read in the meantime. I actually wasn't planning on doing that. And after reading book three, I wasn't in a hurry to read book one. However, ...
Sometimes the stars align. I'm in between book club books at the moment. I hadn't started another Library Thing book yet. And my reading goal "scavenger hunt" type list includes two entries for two books written by the same author. I had other prospects lined up, but this one was right in front of me.
The first book, The Case of the Culvert Puppies, reads better than the third. Partially, this is because the characters are introduced better here, and partially because Olis doesn't do a good job (or any job?) reintroducing them to new readers in book three. I never got a feel for them. Once again, however, almost everyone is on a first-name basis, which gets confusing, and I forget which parent goes with which child.
Speaking of adults, they play significant roles in this book. It's not all kids saving the day. In fact, they acknowledge that there are parts of the investigation that are grown-up business.
There's a Russian plot to sow discord in the area that involves stealing a dog, which escapes long enough to give birth to puppies in an illegal culvert on a property that's illegally being developed. Then a flash drive is found that has a bunch of files in it. The police and feds step in after this.
It wasn't bad. I liked it better than book three. The back of the book lists five mysteries, but the third one just came out. I hope the author makes corrections to his writing before publishing those next two.
If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.
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