The Case of the Missing Moonstone (Wollstonecraft) (Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, #1)

by Jordan Stratford

[Beth C.]

Two girls, as different as they could possibly be. One sees patterns in numbers, and the other sees the mysteries that surround her. One tends to be socially awkward, the other notices things about people that might otherwise go missed. Both grow up to be famous in their own ways. And here, they become friends and create the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency. When a special necklace goes missing, the girls are hired for their first case.

It sometimes seems like books crafted around female characters, especially for the middle-grade group, can tend to be a bit forced. It's almost like the authors want so badly to have a book aimed towards girls that they forget it doesn't matter who the main characters are if the story itself is not any good. So I was curious about how well this story might work, particularly considering both characters (in fact, most *all* of the characters) are famous in their own right. Happily, the story works well.

The characters of Ada and Mary are well-written and interesting. There was a little bit of creative license used in having them close enough in age to be able to be friends and conspirators, but I didn't find it outlandish in any way. The story is fun and moves along at a fairly good pace, with all sorts of other fun characters involved in ways great and small - many of whom the reader may recognize.

As the first in a new series, this is an excellent beginning. Even better, it's a wonderful book to show my daughter that girls can be heroes, love math, and have adventures as well. That the girls happen to be famous in their own right? All the better. Definitely a book I will be showing to my daughter, and I will be looking for the next ones in the series.