[.uk] Behind the Curtain: An Echo Falls Mystery (ISBN 0060737069)

The Case Book of Ingrid Levin-Hill:
Once again Peter Abrahams returns to the world of Echo Falls, where young Ingrid Levin-Hill is just trying to get by, navigating the slippery slopes of being a kid in the 21st century. While basically she's got a warm and protective family, there's always some friction going on, just like real life. In this book Ty's problem with anabolic steroids becomes more and more the center of Ingrid's worries. She notices things about him her mom and dad are just to preoccupied to see, or too blind, for they're proud of him and his success in organized sport in school. Meanwhile her dad, who as we all remember works for a corporation owned by the richest man in town, feels threatened by the incursion of a new, chic, blonde dynamo who's become thisclose to the boss. Ferrand's not only wealthy, but evil, and Ingrid wouldn't put it past him to dump her dad in favor of this new executive woman, Julia LeCaine, who as it happens is also the new coach of her soccer team and sort of ruthless. At 99 Maple Lane everyone's got a secret (except Mom, and I bet that will be in the next book in the series) and the gorgeous scenery of Echo Falls is often ironically counterpointed to the nasty behavior of its human residents. Grampy (Aylmer Hill) is still alive, though he's sinking, and his farm is under siege from developers led by the same Ferrand Group that his son-in-law works for. It would be a great coup for Dad in the company if he was the one who secured the land away from Grampy. Ingrid doesn't want to see that happen. In the middle of all this, she is falling in love, not a huge passionate love but a solid friendship with Joey Strade, the solid son of the town's Police Chief. Ingrid doesn't really know how she feels about that! Peter Abrahams weaves all these threads into a fantastic thriller for kids of all ages. Ingrid's love of Conan Doyle and the Sherlock Holmes stories guides her through a world of trouble. "As Ho;mes told Watson," she reminds herself, "Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details." I rate this book higher than DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE and, unlike the other reviewers here who claim they knew the answer to the mystery right away, I was honestly baffled and shocked by the multiple endings. What will be next for Ingrid? "An Awfully Big Adventure"? Without a doubt.

to the reviewer below:
some 13 year olds read Sherlock Holmes. Not all kids have been affected by the dumbing down of America.

Where is the Mystery?:
There isn't really any mystery. My 3rd Grader figured it out. There are no Red Herrings. No surprises. It's pretty lame. It's pretty much the same as the first one. A formula to make money... it's so obvious. It uses the background of a classic children's book and mixes it (unsuccessfully) with a lame mystery. I've read both and because I am huge fan of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz I decided the formula could be charming. It's not. It's just to sell books to consumers like me. Stephen King reccommended the first book. I think it's just more that he likes the author. The book really isn't good at all. It's not enjoyable. The characters are flat. Ingrid is basically more of the author than a girl. What girl that's 13 reads Sherlock Holmes? The formula for this series doesn't work. It's not charming. She doesn't have cool friends. There needs to be more shout outs to the books it's using to market with... blah, blah, blah. There are much better books out there... and much better mysteries (that are actually mysteries). This book is just lame.

The Soccer Playing Sleuth:
Behind the Curtain is the second book featuring thirteen year old Ingrid. This mystery series is set in the small town of Echo Falls. Ingrid seems to be your typical middle school student who likes playing soccer, acting in plays, and eating ice cream. She is not too thrilled with school, math class in particular, but loves Sherlock Holmes. She is very good at observing small details like Holmes, her hero. It is through observing various oddities, like her dad throwing away the newspaper or her brother's increasing acne, that she begins to realize all is not well in her house. Peter Abrahams does a good job of keeping the story moving and interesting while also interspersing it with the mundane things that a young teen must do such as homework or a trip to the orthodontist. The mysteries are convoluted enough to be intriguing, yet there are an abundance of clues so that an astute reader could figure them out. The issues Ingrid ends up investigating are pretty serious and do not necessarily have feel good happy endings. There are a few loose ends left at the end of the book: Why was Grampy at the hospital? Why was Chloe so upset? Hopefully these will be addressed in the next edition of the Echo Falls mystery series. I'm looking forward to it.

Good mystery with clever references to Sherlock Holmes and Wizard of Oz:
The title refers to The Wizard of Oz. Ingrid is playing Dorothy in a school production. Also, symbolically, in real life. Just reading the cover you can guess who the wicked witch is. And it doesn't take long to figure out who's the Wizard behind the curtain. I haven't read or seen Oz for a long time, and I'm not great with symbolism, so I'm not sure who the Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, etc. are. Yes, it was pretty obvious who the bad guys were and what was happening "behind the curtain" early on. Didn't bother me at all.