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Summary
Summary
Encyclopedia Brown, watch out! Charlie Collier can match you mystery for mystery!
Seventh grader Charlie Collier has always been able to solve brain teasers in no time at all. And his favorite books have always been mysteries. So when Charlie dons his father's old trench coat--the one his mother thought she brought to Goodwill--and a fedora that should have suffered the same fate, he thinks solving mysteries will be as easy as pie. But then Charlie is presented with a big case. A huge one. That involves the entire town. And Charlie needs more than just smarts to crack this case. He'll need his friend Henry, their client Scarlet, and a class bully who turns out to have some surprising secrets of his own.
Praise for THE HOMEMADE STUFFING CAPER
"I loved reading The Homemade Stuffing Caper . The mystery is challenging. The many characters in the book are great fun. I look forward to reading the next Charlie Collier story, and the next, and the next, and the . . ."--David A. Adler, author of the Cam Jansen mysteries
" The Homemade Stuffing Caper is an exciting mystery, full of jokes and puns, as well as brainteasers and lots of detective work. This may be the first mystery you don't want the detective to solve, because you won't want it to end!"-- Bookpage
"Brisk and absorbing, author John Madormo's debut tips its fedora to hard-boiled classics with its 'sixth-grader meets Sam Spade' narration."-- FamilyFun Magazine
"With mysteries to solve, codes to decrypt, and an extended cast of colorful characters in tow, this first in a new series offers lots of mystery fans to chew on and will leave them hungry for the next installment."-- Booklist
Author Notes
John Madormo is an author, a screenwriter and a college professor. He lives near Chicago, Illinois.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Screenwriter and debut author Madormo's mystery, first in the Charlie Collier, Snoop for Hire series, has a satisfyingly old-fashioned ambience, despite its contemporary setting. Sixth-graders Charlie Collier, an overweight aspiring sleuth, and his best friend Henry-perpetual competitors when it comes to word puzzles and brain teasers-run a detective agency in the Collier family garage (unbeknownst to Charlie's parents). Inspired by literary hero Sam Solomon, star of countless detective stories, Charlie relies only on his (and Henry's) powers of reasoning to solve the mysteries that come their way, refusing to consult the Internet or GPS. When the boys-joined by an attractive female classmate-take on a job that reveals itself as a full-fledged crime, an elderly library volunteer and Charlie's crazy grandmother turn out to be surprisingly helpful and to have some exciting secrets of their own. Astute readers will pick up the hints and clues that Madormo sprinkles throughout, and everybody will be pulling for good-natured Charlie as he strives to outwit a criminal and save himself and his friends. Ages 9-up. Agent: Chelsea Lindman, the Nicholas Ellison Agency. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Mystery lovers will enjoy the adventures of Charlie Collier, boy detective. When introduced to an actual detective by his eccentric grandmother, Charlie is eager to prove himself and is soon on a case involving missing birds. Along the way, he runs into unexpected twists. Charlie is a likable character, and readers will enjoy solving further mysteries with him. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Charlie Collier leverages his agile reasoning and auspicious memory into a career as Roosevelt Middle School's premier detective, investigating his classmates' mysteries with hard-boiled aplomb. Inspired by his favorite literary sleuth, Sam Solomon, Charlie dons a trench coat, hangs up a proverbial shingle (outside the garage), and gets to solving. Charlie soon tires of the tedium of middle-school mystery and longs for a major caper. When he learns that his grandmother and her partner, Eugene (undercover as a volunteer at the local library), are actually private private eyes themselves, Charlie gets more than he bargained for. Charlie makes a winning hero, a jumble of analytical brilliance, sixth-grade insecurity, and addled attraction to Scarlet Alexander. Madormo makes the most of the unlikely intersection of private investigation and adolescence to comic effect. With mysteries to solve, codes to decrypt, and an extended cast of colorful characters in tow, this first in a new series offers lots for mystery fans to chew on and will leave them hungry for the next installment.--Barthelmess, Thom Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Charlie Collier, 12, has a gift as an analytical thinker and a love for old school noir detective comics. One day his eccentric grandmother confides in him that she is really a former spy working with her friend, fellow noir detective comic aficionado, Eugene, an official private investigator. He recognizes Charlie's talents and takes him on as a junior partner. When a beautiful classmate comes to inquire about how to find her grandfather's missing bird, Eugene is dismissive, but Charlie takes it on as his first case. As the plot unravels, he realizes that a bird-poaching black-market scandal is about to put his and his friends' lives in danger. Despite the noir motif, this is an innocent book that mystery readers will like. The character development is good, but there are sweeping inconsistencies in the protagonist's mental prowess. The plot is adequately paced, but the realistic feel of the noir novel is at odds with major events such as Charlie's favorite library volunteer also being a former CIA agent with an office modeled after their favorite comic character. This is a good choice for young readers who may be reading above their grade level, but Chris Rylander's The Fourth Stall (HarperCollins, 2011) and Eoin Colfer's Half Moon Investigations (Hyperion, 2006) are better choices for those looking for age-appropriate novels that contain the grit that makes a noir novel truly good.-Devin Burritt, Wells Public Library, ME (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Hard-boiled boy detective Charlie Collier, Snoop for Hire, takes on his first big case. Inspired by fictional hero Sam Solomon, star of 1930s-era-Chicago detective novels, Charlie has a knack for solving brainteasers and run-of-the-mill middle-school crimes and misdemeanors. Lucky for him, his sidekick Henry has an eye for business and makes sure to parlay Charlie's skills into a few extra dollars. Turns out that Charlie is not the only one obsessed with Sam Solomon. His eccentric grandmother and riddle-loving librarian Eugene also know Sam's modus operandi. Up until now, Charlie has handled small cases, but he longs for his first big case. His assignment comes from an unlikely place--turns out Eugene is more than a librarian, and he needs help with a local case of missing exotic birds. While the story is overlong for the intended audience, the snappy first-person noir language keeps the plot moving. The midstream addition of intuitive Scarlett and misunderstood Sherman adds depth to the story and gives hints of capers to come. Each chapter title is borrowed from a Sam Solomon novel, keeping the link between Charlie and his fictional hero alive. What would Sam Solomon and Charlie Collier do after cracking this case? Solve another one, readers hope. (Fiction. 9-13)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.