Concord Cunningham on the Case: The Scripture Sleuth 3

Concord Cunningham Mysteries #3

by Mat Halverson

Who stole the lumberjack statue? Is a peanut butter sandwich really powering the digital clock, or is it just a science fair scam? Why is there a mysterious skydiver in Pine Tops? Concord Cunnigham can crack all the cases, but can you? In the third volume of unique Scripture Slueth mysteries, Concord once again faces an exciting new case in each chapter. Though Concord always solves the mystery, he never gives away the solution. Instead, he reveals the location of a Bible verse which holds the myster's final clue. Then it's up to you to look up the clue and crack the case Not sure about your answer? No problem. The solutions are at the back of the book.

Scripture Sleuth 3 also includes " The Greatest Case," which brings Concord face to face with another Scripture Sleuth. Together, they investigate the most important case ever. These timeless and lighthearted mysteries are certain to make you think, laugh and make looking up Bible verse irresistibly fun

Genres: Christian

99 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

Reviews

[Karina (Karina's Christian Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number of pages: 99

Genre: Children’s fiction

Series: Book #3 in the Scripture Sleuth Series

Age recommendation: 8-12

Summary: Concord is on the case again! Armed with his Bible and a concordance-like knowledge of scripture, Concord is ready to solve every mystery.

My thoughts: I can’t really enjoy this series as much as I would have when I was the intended age (8-12 years old). My little brother loved it, but there’s a few things that I can’t get past anymore (but wouldn’t have thought anything of when I was 10). Firstly, it drives me crazy how out of context the Bible verses are. If I’m remembering correctly, Concord uses a random verse about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet to prove the people were guilty because their feet were sandy. That literally had nothing to do with anything. Secondly, at the end of the book, kids are encouraged to learn Bible verses too so they can also solve mysteries like Concord. Since Concord takes verses out of context, isn’t that kind of just encouraging kids to take verses out of context? They're probably not going to read that part of the book though, or interpret it that way, so it’s fine.
I like that the mysteries are mostly solvable by the reader based on the information in the story. If not by that then they’re at least made obvious by the verse Concord suggests to solve the mystery. I also appreciate that the book encourages kids to learn to look things up in their Bible. While references are provided, and verses may be summarized in the solution section, they are never written out so if you want to know exactly how Concord solved the case you do have to look up verses yourself.
Finally, I really appreciated the clear gospel message in this book. I don’t know if there was so much one in the other two Concord books, but this one has a mystery that’s centered around why Jesus would come for us and how we can be saved through the gift of His life.

My personal rating: 3/5 stars personally, but 4.5/5 stars for the intended audience.

Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...

[Laura The Book Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read these stories with our devotions. They are interesting, bitesize, and make us think logically.

[isaac palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

ive read with a group read and enjoyd it very much.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were such fun books, they really got you to thinking!

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the mysteries in this book. Concord uses his biblical knowledge to figure out mysteries.