FFB Review: The Adventures of the Quinn Higgins Boy Detective: The Case of the Lost U-Boat by Douglas Quinn

I don’t know about you, but reading for me has been hard these past few days. It seemed like a good idea to remind you of a great series for kids. Today I am running my repeat review of The Adventures of the Quinn Higgins Boy Detective: The Case of the Lost U-Boat by Douglas Quinn. This is just one of a number of great books in this series. Make sure you check out the reading suggestions from Patti Abbott and Aubrey Hamilton. Have a great weekend!

 

Reggie, Vaughn, Demian, and the Boy Detective, Quinn Higgins, like to pal around at school and at home. They call themselves “Quinn and the Three Musketeers.” Thanks to Demian they learn that there is a new kid in school. The 11-year-old boy is from Chicago and just got to North Carolina and that means that Demian can happily give up his title of the “new kid.”

 

The new kid is Frederick Cullen and he is living with his grandfather out on Big Flatty Creek.  Word is that his mom is dead and his father died fighting in Afghanistan. Since Frederick wants to learn how to fish and Quinn is good at it that becomes a natural way to start talking to Frederick. The plan is to make friends with Frederick and bring him into the group.

 

When Quinn and the others aren’t making instruments for the upcoming talent show the boys try to figure out ways to help Frederick as his rather rude grandfather makes it clear that no one is welcome at their home. The boys, who have been on more than one adventure, suspect that the elderly man is hiding something. It could be something very important and may have links back to World War II. A secret that boy detective Quinn Higgins is determined to discover in The Adventures of the Quinn Higgins Boy Detective: The Case of the Lost U-Boat.

 

From the first book The Case of the Missing Homework through this, the fifth book in the series, readers have been treated to Quinn Higgins, a fun-loving kid growing up in North Carolina. An active kid who would rather spend time with his friends outdoors than inside playing video games, Quinn has an innate curiosity which can put him in sticky situations such as in this book. For us readers of a certain age, these books are very reminiscent of the classic Encyclopedia Brown series.

 

This read is fast moving, solidly good, and engages the interest of kids and adults as do the other books of the series. While a mystery is at the core of the book, the read is also about exploring one’s own talents as well as helping others as relationships matter. Sometimes things don’t work out exactly as expected and this life lesson comes through clearly at the end of the story. This is a series that works for kids and parents.

 

This latest good book in the series is also complimented by four pages at the end of the book detailing how the instruments are made that the boys use in their talent show. The four instruments are things for the kid in all of us to consider making.

 

  

The Adventures of the Quinn Higgins Boy Detective: The Case of the Lost U-Boat

Douglas Quinn

http://obxwriter.webs.com/

AAS White Heron Press (Via CreateSpace)

ISBN #978-1492974215

November 2013

Paperback

132 Pages

$7.95

 

 

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

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013, 2021