The Bald Bandit

A to Z Mysteries #2

by Ron Roy, John Steven Gurney (Illustrator)

Help Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose solve mysteries from A to Z!
 
Kids love collecting the entire alphabet and super editions! With over 8 million copies in print, the A to Z Mysteries® have been hooking chapter book readers on mysteries and reading for years. Now this classic kid favorite is back with a bright new look!
 
B is for Bandit . . . There’s a bank robber in Green Lawn! A red-haired kid took a video of the crime, but nobody can find him. Without the video, will the robber go free? Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose must track down that kid—before the bandit does!

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Middle Grade, 2nd Grade, Juvenile

71 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ron Roy has been writing books for children since 1974. He is the author of dozens of books, including the popular A to Z Mysteries®, Calendar Mysteries, and Capital Mysteries. When not working on a new book, Ron likes to teach tricks to his dog Pal, play poker with friends, travel, and read thrilling mystery books.

Reviews

[Swati Tanu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This part was very predictable :p but fun!

My 7-year-old nephew predicted it way too soon while the 5-year-old took some time to process. :D

It's so fun reading to them!!!

You might like to wander through a few artistic journals — they’re full of sparks and surprises.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was seeking something easy and nostalgic to read with all the nonsense in the world right now, so why not jump back into some sweet middle grade reads I used to binge as a kid? A to Z Mysteries felt like just the book - it'll be easy, have a nice mystery and remind me of my school years.

I thoroughly loved these books as a kid and I still enjoy them. There are little twists and turns that you don't necessarily expect but are so good. They make you question what's going on the entire time and then give you a very reasonable ending. I really enjoyed The Bald Bandit since there was many ways the story could have gone. It set it up so you could have a good guess about what might happen but not be entirely sure until you got enough information (much like the little detectives we have in the story).

I highly recommend picking this book up if you're looking for a light chapter book for young readers. It's fun! It also has some pictures if you pick up the right edition!

Four out of five stars.

[allison riera :)]

sometimes ya just need to listen to a classic children's book when walking around college. truly the best stress & anxiety reliever. ❤️

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly predictable, but a good book to read aloud with children. Our girls really enjoy the A to Z Mysteries and we are eager to read the next one. We aren't reading them all in order, but so far it's not a big deal.

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far less dynamic of a story than the first book, with a lot less stake and a lot more wondering why the trio was involved at all. It is interesting that in this book the main character is actually the one in the leading role; even if those were to rotate in the group I would have expected the main point of view character to take the lead in the first.

[Ch_kendrachristo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book with a third grade guided reading group. The kids enjoyed the story tons! As an adult, I found the book to be fairly boring. However, I'll continue to use it because kids can't get enough of Ron Roy's A to Z Mysteries.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The audiobook is actually quite fun to listen to for all ages. Kids will probably get a great kick out of the twist at the end, but adults will likely see it coming a mile away. Even so, it was a fun distraction for me.

[Kat V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was really obvious right from the start. Only appropriate for young children I would think. 3.2 stars

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galen read on April 2, 2025.

He says 4.5 stars.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

my mentor teacher in the class that I am interning at was reading this book aloud to the students a little bit each day and I got the opportunity to read it aloud to them a few days. AS I read it to them and as I watched as she did, the students were always so engaged. They were always excited to listen to it and sad when the chapter was over. Mysterious are great for read aloud in the classroom because they make the students want to keep reading to find out what happens. They love to predict who the "bad guy" is and argue for their reasoning. Many of the students in my class are now reading other books from the a to z mystery series. Once I saw how much the students in my classroom enjoyed the book I decided to read it myself because I had missed the entire beginning. I too enjoyed the book and would definitely use it in my own classroom for read aloud and also have the entire series in my class library.

[Rekken Breken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ron Roy Was born is Hartford, Connecticut. His full name is Wallace Ronald Roy. When he was young he was a shy kid and spent most of his time reading. His favorite teacher was Mr. Ben Hancock. After Collage he became a forth grade teacher. In 1978 he sold his first children’s book.

A bandit has robbed the Green Lawn Savings Bank. Dink and his friends Josh and Ruth Rose are ready to help when a private detective comes to dinks door looking for the kid who video taped the crime, the trio volunteers to find him.

I thought the book was boring because it wasn’t a very good book and to childish for me. The author should have made it more exiting and funny. Yes I liked the writing style. I thought the story wasn’t really realistic it had some funny parts but then the rest was too mysterious. This is the first book I have read by this author and no I haven’t read similar books. At first it seemed like a good book but then it got a little to boring.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son needed to read a mystery for an upcoming book report. We downloaded this from the library and he read the ebook in about an hour or so and I didn't quite believe that he'd actually read the whole story. He'd told me that he wants a good grade on this report so I took a little time to read the book tonight so that I know whether or not he got enough of the content to do well on his project. And since I took time away from my own reading tonight I figure I get credit for having read this book too! This was the first of that A-Z mysteries we've read and it was decent for a kid's book. It will be interesting to see if my 3rd grader wants to read any more of if he finds these to be too easy.

[Mary T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm enjoying listening to this series with my boys as we drive around town. One son wants to listen to them in order A-Z; one says order doesn't matter. For now, it's on to C!

Update: another good re-listen!

[Aline Rea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my kids at work, lowkey didn’t see the plot twist coming.

[Joyce T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

-- This is a series review. --

I love this series. The kids are solving real mysteries around their neighborhood (as opposed to their siblings), and they find out things that the adults couldn't.

-- End series review --

I really enjoyed this book, because they got to know Lucky! Lucky pops up in future mysteries as well.

[Varsha Seshan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who doesn’t love a good mystery story? I love the A to Z Mysteries because they’re exactly the right level for my book club. The characters are fun, the mysteries are engaging, and the fact that we have a whole series of twenty-six books to read makes The Bald Bandit an easy choice for me. Even though the book is over twenty-five years old, it doesn’t feel dated. I’m sure we’ll have fun with it!
https://www.varshaseshan.com/the-bald...

[Keira Mc · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had goodreads in first grade then I would seriously have peaked with number of books for reading challenge. I remember reading each one of the books in this series in a single sitting, checking out several from the school library at once, and being frustrated when someone else had the next letter and was taking too long to read it. First grade me was a monster and consumed these books rapidly

[CI_546 Octavia Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun mystery book to read. I was intrigued by the authors purpose to write so many books that are aligned with the alphabets. I love the idea. I think these books are really good for children to read and have fun discussions about. The Bald Bandit is simply a tale about Dink and his friends looking for a videotape that is related to a robbery. A very easy read and awesome illustrations.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha! Adorable! My 9 year old and I are listening to these as audio books in the car.

We raced right through this story as we ran around doing errands.

My 9 year old paused it non-stop chattering about what she thought would happen next. When a book can inspire so much curiosity and wonder in them, you know it's a good one. We are just loving these mysteries!

[Terrence]

When a bandit robs the Green Lawn Savings Bank Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose find themselves a part of another mystery. It is up to them to find the red haired boy to see if he has the video of the robber. What find surprises them. Take this quiz to see what you can remember from this exciting mystery.

[Bailey Hauge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was about 3 kids trying to solve a mystery. It was a bank robbery mystery. I liked the part at the end when Lucky got the money. College costs a lot of money. Lucky will be able to go now that he has the money.

[Evelyn W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book 4 stars because I enjoy reading about Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose finding mysteries. Someone told them they had to find a redhead boy. The redhead boy caught a video of the bandit. They looked everywhere, but they could not find him. They looked on Halloween night.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was easier to predict than the first one. [Spioler alert] It was kind of cool that instead of getting $50 each they $833.33. It was funny how Josh said at the end- my folks would kill me if I burst up $800 on pizza and ice cream.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pretty good kids' mystery. This time there's a nice two for one solution.

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review by by 6 year old:
It was fantastic! It was fun to read with my mom.

[Cora S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. It was so amazing. ❤️🧡💛💚💙🩵💜💖💗🤯🥳🍉🥰😭🌟📚☺️😬😳🤯✨🌝🌚🙊🌟🙈🎉

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with my 5 year old, it was just a tiny bit too hard for her to follow but I think would be perfect in about 6 months. Great story with the right amount of illustrations for this age group.

[Sami Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6 year-old figured it out on page 4 but we both still loved the book!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever little mystery!

[Anahi]

Don't trust strangers because you never know what they really want. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are good friends. One day before Halloween someone knocked the door, and he said that he was a detective searching for the person who robbed the bank. The detective said that they need to find a boy that had red hair, and was in high school. They need to find the boy because he had the video where the person who robbed the bank appears. The kids started with the investigation of the boy that had red hair, and they find a bald boy who said that he has the video. It was true. The kids called the detective and said that they have the video. The detective was very happy and he told the kids not to see the video. The kids wanted to know who was the person who robbed, and they saw something that they never expected.
I really enjoyed reading this book because I never expect what was going to happen on the end. I also liked how the author "Ron Roy" writes because he writes in third person so that way you know how all the characters feelings. I give this book a 10 because it was a very interesting book and has a lot of details and I felt that I was watching a movie. I recommend this book to all people that enjoy mystery and suspense.