A to Z Mysteries – The Canary Caper

Ron Roy's The Canary Caper is a small-town mystery for 5 year olds about a string of disappearing pets.

What happens

It's the hottest day of the summer and Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose are off to the circus. Then Mrs Davis rings. Her canary, Mozart, has vanished from his cage in the apple tree.

That evening, Ruth Rose's big orange cat Tiger goes missing too. At the police station the friends find out that a rabbit and a parrot have disappeared as well. Four pets in one day? Ruth Rose is sure it's a pet-napper.

Then something odd happens. A polite young man turns up at Mrs Davis's door with Mozart and won't take a reward. So if the pets are coming home, why are people's houses being burgled?

It's a perfect mystery for a newish reader. There are clues to spot along the way (keep an eye on those yellow braces!) and the three friends talk everything through out loud, so your reader can have a go at solving it too.

They're great fun together. Josh is always hungry and never stops teasing. Dink is the sensible one. And Ruth Rose always dresses in one colour, from her headband to her trainers, and plans to be President one day.

It's lovely how seriously the story takes Ruth Rose's worry. As the days go by without Tiger, she stops wearing just one colour and stops arguing with Josh, and the boys notice. It's gently done.

The ending is exciting rather than scary. There's a night-time stake-out with shoe polish on their faces, a police car roaring across the lawn and Mrs Davis storming out in her nightie waving a sword. Who could resist that?

This is the third of the A to Z Mysteries (C is for canary). It's a complete case on its own.

What to read next

If they want another case with the same three friends, try The Missing Mummy. This time Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose take the bus to a museum in Hartford, where a man in a white helmet is waiting to lead them into a tomb.