Monday, April 16, 2012

Review: "The Adventures of Quinn Higgins: Boy Detective--The Case of the Haunted House" by Douglas Quinn

The Adventures of Quinn Higgins: Boy Detective--The Case of the Haunted House is third in this series authored by Douglas Quinn. It is the start of a new school year for Quinn Higgins who is looking forward to the fifth grade and seeing his best buddy, Reginald Robinson, known to all as Reggie.  It has been a long summer with the visit with Dad and Quinn hasn’t seen Reggie in months. It is a new year and the dynamic duo is back together and in action.

Unfortunately a couple of the same old problems exist in the forms of Hunter Sparks and Billy Tadwell.  After interrupting their latest game of making fun of the new kid, Demian, Quinn “Boy Detective” and Reggie quickly make friends with him. Adding him to the mix with Quinn’s new neighbor Vaughn Taylor means the group is now four strong.  Before long at Demian’s suggestion the group decides they should be known as “Quinn and the three Musketeers.”

When not in school or having fun with his buddies, Quinn decides to start poking around the old abandoned house at the end of the road.  Vaughn is convinced the house is haunted.  Quinn decides to investigate using his detective kit and quickly determines something is going on. The real question is what and how much danger the four boys will get into to find out.
Important life lessons have always been a part of this series in the guise of fiction and that is true here with the storyline regarding bullying. Subtly woven into the story the painful subject matter of bullying and why some do it is addressed in such a way that it won’t turn off the audience the book is aimed for with heavy handed lecturing. Aimed for young readers, the book gently deals with the important issue of bullying while also providing a solid mystery/adventure style read.

Like the two previous books in this series, there is an adventure here and a quest to find out what is going on. The author keeps the action moving forward at a rapid clip to hold young minds while entertaining them with a case that is resolved in unexpected ways.  Creating another entry in a series that just keeps getting better while also still skillfully teaching life lessons, author Douglas Quinn has created another good one.

Next in this series is The Case of Blackbeard’s Treasure released last month.

The Adventures of Quinn Higgins: Boy Detective--The Case of the Haunted House
Douglas Quinn
AAS White Heron Press (via CreateSpace)
October 2011
ISBN# 978-1466348844
Paperback
112 Pages


Material supplied by the author in exchange for my objective review.



Kevin R. Tipple ©2012

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