Click: An Upper Middle Grade Mystery

by Jean Knight Pace

What starts off as a simple geocached puzzle turns into a dangerous game when twins Eli and Joel, along with their foster sister Noe, find an empty pill bottle at one of the locations. An empty pill bottle with the name of a woman who winds up dead later that night.

The more the three teens uncover at each location, the deadlier the puzzle becomes.

Because as much as they want to find the pieces and to figure out where (or to whom) the clues are leading, someone else wants those clues to stay hidden.

And if they aren’t fast enough, the next body that surfaces might be one of their own.

Genres: Young Adult

223 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2024

About the author

Jean Knight Pace is the author of the young adult novels Grey Stone and Grey Lore. She has had work published in Puerto del Sol, The Lakeview Review, and other literary magazines. She’s also written for Dollar Stretcher and Authors Publish. She has a BA in music and an MFA in creative writing. She lives in southern Indiana with her husband, four children, ten ducks, and a cat. She blogs at jeanknightpace.com and tastycheapskate.blogspot.com.

Reviews

[Monica Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love seeing the boys’ point of views on family and fostering. Adds to the wholesome, family theme that I get out of the book. As someone who has a disability I’m really glad you included someone with a handicap in the story. It makes it relatable to some readers and I think it would help the younger readers to connect with people different than themselves so this is really a wonderful thing the author did. I think in at least the beginning of the book, there is too much use of “their mother”- maybe use the characters name more instead? It was an interesting read and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. Would have liked a little more clarification as to how the Dr at the end took Noe- I wasn’t sure how this connection was formed. Otherwise a very solid read!

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hoping for a sequel

This book is rather different than the types of books I typically read. It took me a couple chapters to get into the story but once I did, I didn’t want to put it down. I reminded me a bit of the Hardy Boys series from when I was young, but much more modern. The characters are well-developed and I really appreciated the occasional different character POVs interspersed throughout the book. It was fun and exciting until the dark turn toward the end, but then everything managed to work out and it was exciting to see how it all fit together. I hope that Ms. Jean writes more with Eli, Joel, and Noe. They make such a great team and, I will feely admit, I hope there is more in store for their parents as well.

[Feather Chelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping

I was completely lost in this book and couldn’t put it down until the very end. There are some mature themes about drugs and child abuse, but they are handled with Grace and finesse. A family of three, all dealing with grief in different ways, discover ways to help others and find themselves at the heart of quite a mystery. I haven’t read such a wonderful book in a while, and I highly recommend it to upper middle schoolers and older readers.

[Ami Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was intense! It built like a puzzle being put together or a mystery with totally random clues. I loved all the different personalities and the imperfect people! This one really delved deep and made me think! I really loved this story!

[Irinel Finco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written, fast paced and interesting plot. I just wish there was more explanation towards the end.

[Kayla T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fast paced book that you aren't going to want to put down. As I read I felt kind of like a detective with trying to figure out where the next puzzle piece would be found. The different perspectives told throughout the book helps readers understand the characters and their backgrounds. The ending was great as well as mind blowing 🤯 I would highly recommend someone who is interested in mystery books to check this out!