A to Z Mysteries – The Empty Envelope

Ron Roy's The Empty Envelope is a code-cracking mystery for 5 year olds that starts with Dink's post going astray.

What happens

All week, blue envelopes have been landing in Dink's letterbox. They have D. Duncan on the front. The notes inside, though, are written to somebody called Doris, from her mother. Then the fifth one arrives with nothing in it at all.

Who posts an empty envelope? That's exactly what Ruth Rose wants to know.

A woman rings up saying she's Doris Duncan and the letters are hers. She's in a BIG hurry to get them back. Then the letters vanish from Dink's kitchen table (Ruth Rose's little brother Nate and his toy dinosaur are involved, and it's very funny).

This is a proper puzzle book. There are pinholes in the notes, a hidden message, a stamp hiding under other stamps and a race against the clock at the library. The code is simple enough that your reader can have a go with a pencil before the friends crack it. Secret messages are the best thing ever at that age, aren't they?

Josh is on top form. He pours milk on one of the letters because a spy comic told him it shows up invisible ink. It doesn't. Dink is not impressed!

It's also a nice gentle lesson in being honest. The friends could just hand everything over and forget about it. Instead they keep asking why the story doesn't add up.

One scene is worth a mention. Near the end a man chases the three of them through gardens and woods, and they hide in Josh's barn while he stomps about looking for them. Nothing happens to them, but it's tense for a few pages. If your reader worries about being chased, you might want to be nearby for that chapter. Most will be too busy enjoying Ruth Rose's plan, which is brilliant (and involves her doing a very good gangster voice on the phone).

It's the E book of the series, and it works perfectly well as a stand-alone case.

What to read next

For another mystery with animals at its heart, The Falcon's Feathers has Josh discovering that the baby birds he's been secretly watching in the woods have vanished from their nest.