The Dead Man in Indian Creek

The Dead Man in Indian Creek by Mary Dwoning Hahn

While camping near indian Creek, Matt and his best friend, Parker, get up early to see if they can spot a blue heron. Instead, they find the body of a dead man floating in the clear water.

Parker is sure that George Evans, the smooth-talking antiques dealer who is dating his mother, must somehow be connected to the dead man. Matt isn't so sure - but then, on Halloween night, while snooping around Evan's antiques shop, the boys make another shocking discovery that puts their own lives in danger.

There are murderous grownups that would do anything to keep what the boys found in the shop a secret, and now they're after Parker and Matt. Are the boys clever enough to get away? Or will they, too, end up like the dead man in Indian Creek?

Rat life

Rat Life by Tedd Arnold

From the back cover:
The dead body found in the Chemanga River has nothing to do with Todd. Sure, a murder is big news, but what would really interest him? A paying job. Then he meets Rat. Just a little older than Todd, Rat has already seen a lot of the world. And when he offers Todd a gig at the drive-in theatre, Todd takes it. After all, it means a paycheck and free movies. But hanging out with Rat leads to a host of strange experiences and perplexing questions. More and more, that corpse from the river is on Todd's mind; and no matter how he shifts the pieces around, Rat is always part of the puzzle.

This was the winner of the 2007 Edgar Award for best young adult mystery.
I have to say that I got taken up with this story. I really enjoyed the creative writing side of Todd's character, I think it showed humor and gave a believability to his age and background. Although the real suspenseful part of the story didn't get going until half way through the book, I felt that drawing out these characters of Todd and Rat and their unlikely friendship gave the book something deeper to delve into. I think it's a winner for me too.

Read On.

Finding Lubchenko

Finding Lubchenko by Michael Simmons

Here's the opening paragraph-

"So this is basically a story about a murder. It's a story about a murder and the fact that the cops said my dad did it. All implausible, but still a lot of trouble for my father. But I'll get to that. The story actually begins with a smaller crime. It was really just a way for me to earn a little money. And when I tell you what I was doing, you probably won't even think it was that wrong. Not really a crime. I was actually only stealing from myself, if you really think about it, although there are probably a few people who would disagree with me on this."

Evan, our main character and narrator of the story relays how his super rich but tightwad dad has been framed for murder. Evan works at his dads biotech firm for minimum wage (his dad wouldn't have it any other way) so with the help of his best friend Rueben they have been "liberating" office equipment and we're not talking staplers and hole-punches, we're talking laptops, printers, and scanners - the boys then sell the stuff on ebay to supplement Evan's non-existant allowance and wage. One minor glitch - when Evan dad is framed for a murder that has taken place in their office tower, Evan holds the key piece of evidence that could free his dad, but that would also mean coming clean on his supplimentary income scheme.

Evan decides there is only one option that will work for them, find out who is framing his dad themselves, even though this puts them up against some pretty nasty guys. And this means finding Lubchenko.

Loved it, thought it was a fun read, enjoyed the sarcastic, smart-alec, voice of Evan, the crazy schemes he comes up with and how his friends can't resist even against their better judgement being a part of them.

If you haven't seen Ferris Buehler's day off, go out and rent it, cause Ferris and Evan are made of the same stuff.

Edgar winner Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready

Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready

Claudine has long buried her own needs and dreams to care for her alcoholic mother. But after her mom suddenly disappears , a much darker truth that lies buried under years of angry denial and enabling behaviour is waiting to be uncovered. When Claudine eventually hits rock bottom, she must literally dig to find the secret that lies in a shallow grave behind the families trailer. Buried is a suspenseful mind-twisting psychological triller that will keep you turning the pages.

Somethings rotten in Denmark Tennessee

Something Rotten by Alan Gratz
There's something rotten in the town of Denmark, Tennessee, and it's not the smell from the polluted Copenhagen river. Horatio is in town visiting his best friend Hamilton Prince after the death of Hamilton's father, millionaire paper-plant owner Rex Prince. On a surveillance video, Hamilton's father tells his son that he's been systematically poisoned over the course of the past few months, but the tape cuts off before he is able to name his murderer. Hamilton vows to avenge his father's murder and makes Horatio help by playing detective. Meanwhile, as Horatio pokes into the family secrets, Hamilton plays the drunk, hoping to fool everyone into thinking he's too out of it to notice what's going on. Hamilton's mother Trudy, who married her dead husband's brother, Claude, also seems to be clueless about the murder. But does she know more than she's letting on? And what about Claude? He had the most to gain, with the new wife and control of the family business. Add in one media mogul attempting a hostile takeover, one pretty evironmentalist convinced the paper plant is polluting the river and two redneck friends, and you have a cast of suspects that only Shakespeare could have bested.

I really enjoyed this modern twist on Shakespeare's Hamlet. I recognized lots of one liners from the play - but not so many that if your unfamilair with the it that it would bog you down. Hip, darkly funny, a sarcastic main character, and a mystery to boot.

Rucker Park Setup by Paul Volponi

Rucker Park Setup by Paul Volponi

Harlem's Rucker Park has seen more than a few stars rise through its ranks, and Mackey and J.R. are hopeful that they will be the next - afterall they've been playing and watching ball their entire lives. Finally the moment they've been dreaming of has arrived - they're about to play in the Rucker Park Tournament where there is sure to be college scouts. Their team is sponsored by the Rapper named Greene and Greene has wagered heavily against opposing coach Fat Anthony that they will win. Before the tournament can even start, things go wrong and J.R. is killed. Mackey knows what has gone down and now has to decide how he'll handle things, including his own involvement.

The basketball action was intense and really kept the story captivating. The characters believeable and I found it to be a fast read. I'd recommend this for any of those reluctant readers who might need something for a book project, that and it's about 160 pages.

There is lots of language** in this one, so use some caution.