Cam Jansen and the Millionaire Mystery

Cam Jansen Mysteries #32

by David A. Adler

Can Cam catch a jewel thief?

Cam Jansen and her best friend, Eric Shelton, are at a charity function with their mothers to raise money for local firefighters. When the host's pearl necklace goes missing, the luncheon turns into a whodunit, and all the guests are suspects. Can Cam use her photographic memory to identify the culprit before the thief gets away?

Genres: Mystery, Chapter Books, Childrens, Audiobook

1 pages, Audio CD

First published September 13, 2012

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fifth-grade sleuth Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton attend a charity gala to raise money for the local firehouse in this thirty-second entry in David A. Adler's series of beginning chapter-books devoted to their crime-solving adventures. When a valuable pearl necklace belonging to Mrs. Scott, one of the hosts of the gala, goes missing, Cam and Eric kick into gear, determined to find the thief...

Although I do not generally find the later Cam Jansen books as entertaining as the earlier titles in the series, probably because I have fond memories of reading the latter when still a girl myself, I have to say that Cam Jansen and the Millionaire Mystery was a fairly engaging whodunit for this age group. I usually succeed in guessing the culprit in these books on the first few pages, but this time it took slightly longer, which is always nice. I enjoy mystery stories where the crime has to have been committed by a set group of people, who are all then brought together, and while this is a very simplistic example of that type, it still works quite well. Recommended to Cam Jansen fans, and to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mystery stories.

[Alex Klaas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it bc I like fire fighters in the community

[midnightfaerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book my 6 yr old loved, a little old for my preschoolers. A solid reading level 2 book, this reader has a good amount of advanced vocabulary words, but not so long that it discourages a new reader. Used it for his read out loud book, which was perfect. It took about 15 mins for him to read and had just enough new vocabulary words to make it challenging. Also, it was a fun and interesting story he could get into. He liked it so much, he asked for more by this author. Great reading book!

[Vader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I brought this book home from the library and my daughter went nuts over it. She really enjoys the series, and will gladly read this (she is starting 2nd grade).

A great series of books for a girl that age.

[Anna Salvesen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because it was a good book to read. I also solved the case, which was fun! Someone stole a very valuable pearl necklace, which was really sad. The necklace was at a place to raise money to build a fire station, and there were a lot of people there. Cam realized that the pearl necklace was missing when they were in the elevator. They called the police, and the police gathered everyone from the elevator. With Cam's amazing memory, she remembered who was in the elevator. Cam thought that a man put the pearl necklace in a coffee cup. The suspicious man was in line for the bathroom, and Cam also waited for the bathroom. She looked in the trash and found the coffee cup with the pearl necklace in it. He put it in the trash so nobody would suspect it.

[Denise Kettering · Rating 3 out of 5]

This installment follows the general pattern of these books, where Cam has to rely on her photographic memory in order to figure out the case. In this case, the stolen item was a necklace during a party. Along with her friends and family, she uses her powers of observation in order to ensure that the criminal is caught.

[Lisa Denford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the only one of the series I have read but it appeared as a simple, clean read for starting readers. Nothing life changing but I think it may be a nice series for young girls to read independently.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My third-grade son was so excited when he 'solved' the mystery before the end of the book. Also, he didn't want to stop reading it. Those are signs of a pretty good book.

[Monica Hocking · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a young girl with a photographic memory. And she is very helpful in solving a crime mystery! Nice story! Kept me attention from start to finish!

[Mr.Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very smart a girl~

[Jill Valenti · Rating 3 out of 5]

A

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story!

[Alyssa Madden]

Cam Jansen is an ordinary girl with an extraordinary memory. She has helped solve mysteries all over town because she has a photographic memory. Her family and her best friend Eric and his family went to a fundraiser for the fire fighters. Mrs. Scott is a big fan of Cam’s and starts showing her around and lets her ride on the elevator. Then more and more people start piling in the elevator until it’s completely packed full. When they get off, Cam notices that Mrs. Scott’s pearl necklace is missing. It didn’t fall off so someone must have stolen it. Cam tells the police offices everyone that she saw in the elevator and the officers start searching people. Some of the guests get upset and request, then demand to leave. Will they find out who stole the necklace?

1) What would happen if the thief escaped?
2) What questions would you ask the people when you were trying to find out who took the necklace if you were the officer?
3) What motive is there to steal?
4) What is the relationship between Jane and Joe Levy and the Scotts?
5) What is the theme of what the officer said at the end of the story?

Adler, D., & Allen, J. (2012). Cam Jansen and the millionaire mystery (Vol. 32, p. 54). New York, New York: Viking.

[K Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice, age-appropriate mystery. I liked how mom was nearby and no one asked a kid to do anything risky.

[Books Kids Like · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cam and Eric and their mothers attend a charity brunch at the apartment of Ellen and Aaron Scott. The money raised at the brunch will help build a new firehouse. After Cam puts on a demonstration of her memory skills, Mr. Scott invites everyone upstairs to see the wonderful vista. Mrs. Jansen and Cam ride the elevator with Mrs. Scott. The elevator quickly fills up- a woman in a green dress with a large handbag, an old man with a cane, another old man and his wife, a man in a dark blue jacket carrying a coffee cup, a woman in a tight fitting flowered dress and holding a piece of cake, and one of the firemen. Mrs. Scott wears a beautiful pearl necklace when the elevator doors close. When the doors open, the necklace is gone. Maybe the clasp came open! Maybe it fell on the floor! They, soon, realize that the necklace has been stolen. With security guards at the doors, the thief can’t leave. It’s up to Cam and her remarkable memory to point out the people who were in the elevator- what they were wearing and what they were carrying- so the police can find the thief and the pearl necklace.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've read all of the Cam Jansen Mysteries by David A. Adler. Cam and Eric are like old friends for us; we've been reading these books since 2009. We like the stories and our girls enjoyed answering the memory game questions at the end.

The mystery wasn't too hard to solve and I liked that Cam and Eric didn't put themselves in a dangerous situation, especially compared to some of the older tales. We enjoyed reading this story together.

[Kayli · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like mystery books you will like this book. It's good for 2nd-3rd graders. In this book Cam Jansen found the stolen necklace and found who stole it. This happened at a charity brunch.A brunch is a meal that is in between breakfast and lunch.

[Jb · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reminds me of Geronimo Stilton. It was good.

[J.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun mysteries for the kids.

[Kaytee · Rating 3 out of 5]

somebody in the elavator stole a necklace from a person who is it

[Aaliyah Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda predictable.

[Iago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cam and her friend Eric were trying to find a thief that stole a lady's pearl necklace. In the end, the mystery was a little surprising, but I kind of figured it out.