Mini Mysteries 3: 20 More Tricky Tales to Untangle

by Rick Walton, Lauren Scheuer (Illustrator)

Marie, Noelle, and all their friends are back to solve more mysteries---big and small. This year, the girls struggle all year long to earn enough money to travel to Hawaii where their biggest mystery ever awaits them.
These popular books appeal to girls who love to solve puzzles, uncover clues, and crack cases! Along with Marie and her best friend, Noelle, girls must figure out which clues in the story will help solve the mystery and which ones are red herrings--those false leads that can send a reader in the wrong direction. A repeating cast of characters and real-life girl situations allow readers to connect with the stories they're reading. Once the reader solves a mystery, she can tear open a case folder in the back of the book to check her answer.

Genres: Mystery, Juvenile, Childrens, Fiction

87 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Born and raised in Utah, Walton is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. He served as a missionary to Brazil from 1976 to 1978, soon after he graduated from high school. Later, at Brigham Young University, he became president of the Brazil Club. In 1980, he graduated from Brigham Young with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a minor in Portuguese, the language spoken in Brazil.

Walton's education continued after he obtained his degree. In 1980, he went back to Brigham Young for one semester of graduate work in business, but chose not to follow that career path. Deciding to become a teacher, he earned certification in elementary education from Brigham Young in 1987, as well as certification to teach gifted and talented students. Up to that point, he had held a number of jobs, including a year with the parks and recreation department of Provo, Utah. In 1987, he began teaching sixth grade at a local public school, then switched to a private school.

Also interested in computers, Walton would later publish several items of software. He left teaching to accept a position as software designer for IBM in 1989. In 1994, he turned to freelance software design and writing. He also returned to Brigham Young University once again, this time to earn his master's degree in English, with an emphasis on creative writing.

Walton's wife, Ann, with whom he has written many of his books, is a computer programmer. They were married in 1983, and have five children. With Dumb Clucks! and Something's Fishy! in 1987, the Waltons began writing books.

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I solved them all 😎

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I was obsessed with Rick Walton’s Mini Mysteries and Mini Mysteries 2 as a kid, I never got around to reading Mini Mysteries 3 (the final installment) until this year. It was cute and entertaining for elementary school readers (and actually has a throughgoing connecting narrative), but I felt it was a little inferior in quality to the first two books. Of course, that could be attributed to my old age and rose-colored glasses.

Mini Mysteries 3 continues the adventures of observant middle school sleuth Marie Cantu and her best friend Noelle Dee as they solve mysteries in their hometown of Liberty during summer break from school. Though Marie and Noelle are the stars of this book, their six friends Hailey Ferris, Brooke Pinnock, Hope Harrison, Sage Matthews, Faith Peterson, and Rose James appear as well as the girls solve twenty everyday mysteries and puzzles, each either four or five pages in length. Mini Mysteries 3 is notable for being the only book in the series to feature an overarching narrative that ties all the stories together: Marie and Noelle’s quest to raise money for their trip to Hawaii with Marie’s Aunt Kristine takes them through a multitude of summer jobs, a citywide slogan contest, a fall corn-maze, and finally a thrilling trip to Hawaii (which, weirdly, only takes up two of the final chapters).

Only one of the stories in Mini Mysteries 3 is in a school setting, which dominated much of the previous two books. Each chapter (or case file) features a catchy little title and some cute, colorful cartoonish illustrations (complete with some very early-2000s-influenced fashion) by Lauren Scheuer. Besides the eight main girls, Walton brings back some of the girls’ family members and guy friends to be supporting cast members. Many of the stories feel a little weaker than in previous books, though there are a few that made me wrinkle my brow a little; they often feel cheesy and illogical out of context, and the dialogue also suffers from some very unnatural exposition-spouting. Still, it’s nice to see Noelle get a chance to finally solve a mystery on her own, and though Walton doesn’t include any spooky stories, he does throw in a genuine criminal case for Marie and Noelle to solve in Hawaii — one that hints at what the plot of Mini Mysteries 4 would have been if it had ever been written.

The Mini Mysteries series is a great way to introduce younger kids who love mysteries to some of the classic mystery components: clues, suspects, whodunits, red herrings, and good old-fashioned observational skills. All the mysteries can be easily solved as long as you’re reading carefully, though a few require prior knowledge about things like the movement of the sun, money calculation skills, and safe combinations. Some of the mysteries are really easy, while some require a second or third read-through to catch the subtle clues. The solutions to each chapter are located at the back of the book with some cute pop-out doors, so kids can try to solve the mysteries on their own before they flip to see the answers. These resolutions often conclude the plot of their chapter, and they also provide some positive examples of honesty, friendship, and conflict resolution.

I found Mini Mysteries 3 to be a little lower quality than the previous two books, but on the whole, the Mini Mysteries series is still really fun and features quite a few clever puzzles that kids will learn a few things from. I’ve always liked how different all the characters are and how adorable the illustrations are. Give it a look if you’re in the market for some kid-friendly little mysteries!

The stories included in this selection are as follows:

• “The Sisterhood and the Traveling Aunt”
• “Light Housekeeping”
• “Stocks in a Box”
• “Time to Shape Up”
• “What a Character!”
• “Incredible Ice Cream”
• “What’s for Dinner?”
• “A Yawn on the Lawn”
• “A Lemonade Stand and a Business Plan”
• “The Gentle Pony”
• “Shake, Rattle, and Roll Over”
• “Pisa and Sew Does”
• “Here’s a Tip”
• “Not Cool”
• “Maze Craze”
• “The Slogan Showdown”
• “What’s at Steak?”
• “Sing Like a Bird”
• “Treasure in a Bottle”
• “Pizza and Paradise”

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read this as a child, because even though I enjoyed the first two books in the series, I never knew that a third existed. It was fun to read this as an adult, and I think it's a nice touch that this volume has an overarching narrative that ties all of the stories together.

[Angie Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pulled this from my niece's library shelf when my phone died. XD Cute story, and I appreciated that at least most of the stories contained all the information needed to solve the puzzles. Not that I solved quite all of them, but that's par for the course with me. ;P

[Olivet]

This book is really fun

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Easier than Encyclopedia Brown, with the bonus of a wholesome story narrative connecting all the mysteries.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and quick! I figured out most of these pretty easily.

[Angie Titus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun five minute mysteries for kids, starring a pair of best friends.

[Anna ♥☻☺♫♪ · Rating 4 out of 5]

its really cool because u read like a 2-3 page story then u have to solve da mystery!

[Mary Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! The mysteries could somtimes be easy to solve and sometimes not.