A to Z Mysteries – The Goose’s Gold

Ron Roy's The Goose's Gold is a sunny treasure mystery for 5 year olds, set on a winter holiday in Florida.

What happens

Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose are staying with Ruth Rose's gram in Key West over Christmas. Back home there's a foot of snow. Here there are palm trees, pelicans and a gran who roller-skates on Tuesdays and Fridays (we love Gram).

At the airport, Dink overhears a man whispering into a phone. Something about taking the dough, some loaded cookies and drowning a goose. It makes no sense at all. Is he planning a robbery, or is he just a cook?

The next day the friends meet two treasure divers down on the dock. They've got a boat, a box of gold coins and big plans. And Gram's friends from the senior centre are thinking about handing over ten thousand dollars each to help.

It's a clever way into how a con works, at a level a young reader can follow. Dink has a hunch he can't shake. Josh finds something in his treasure book that doesn't match what the divers said. Ruth Rose just wants to look after her gran. There's a very funny plan involving a made-up tattoo contest too!

You also get a little trip round Key West, with a trolley ride and a museum full of real shipwreck gold. That's a lovely bonus if your reader has never been somewhere hot at Christmas.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The ending is a big one. The friends are hiding below deck when the boat is sunk on purpose, and they have to jump into the open sea in life jackets until a Coast Guard boat picks them up. They're absolutely fine, and the rescue comes fast. But a child who is frightened of deep water or boats might find that chapter a lot.

If your reader loves a proper adventure, though, this is the one they'll talk about.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, The Haunted Hotel takes them back to Green Lawn, where a glowing ghost is scaring every guest out of the town's only hotel.