This has Scooby Doo and the Mystery Machine vibes, with a couple of good, non-didactic lessons.

This is my first read at 55yo of the BCI (Breakfast Club Investigators) series. It has a decent tale that reminded me of good old Scooby Doo mysteries, and with enough in the way of red herrings, though it still made me suspect that a certain someone mentioned twice might be part of the mystery. But, I was wrong, indirectly, even when certain missing things were not quite casually enough mentioned, making a certainperson stand out. It did also make me wonder if there might be truth in the supposed ghost's history that was revealed, like in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode where the ghosts of a teacher and student haunt the library.

It's nicely written, and though Marcus is a tad bigged-up, of course 😉, but the other kids get credit too. There's life lessons from Marcus's mum, and having 'encountered' them both IRL, I can actually picture her giving him these lessons, in a factual and constructive way, which he's put into the book. There's respect, speaking up, fairness and taking ownership of your actions all portrayed, but not done to knock anyone, and not didactically. I think if IRL kids could consider others' viewpoints, motivations and explanations, we really could have a kinder world.

ARC courtesy of Macmillan Children's Books and NetGalley for my reading pleasure.

I requested this for my son to read and he loved it! He hasn't read any of the series but he didn't feel like he was missing anything. He thoroughly enjoyed the story and has requested to read the other books in the series.