A to Z Mysteries – The Jaguar’s Jewel

Ron Roy sends his three detectives to New York in The Jaguar's Jewel, a big-city museum mystery for 5 year olds with a golden statue and an emerald that isn't what it should be.

What happens

Dink's Uncle Warren meets the three friends off the train at Grand Central Station. He calls Dink "Donny" (Josh is never going to let that go). He hails taxis with his umbrella and wears a red flower in his buttonhole. He also runs a small museum.

A crate has just arrived from South America, packed with Inca gold. The star piece is a solid gold jaguar holding an emerald the size of a golf ball. But when an expert checks it the next morning, the emerald turns out to be glass!

Then the police start wondering if Uncle Warren took the real one. How awful is that for Dink?

What's lovely here is how much New York gets squeezed in. There's the starry ceiling at the station, Chinese food with chopsticks, a saxophone player on Broadway and a horse-drawn buggy ride at the very end. For a child who's never been to a big city, it's a little holiday in itself.

Those fortune cookies after dinner matter, by the way. Dink's warns him that his eyes will play tricks on him. Keep that in mind!

There's a secret door hidden in the wallpaper and a hidden video recorder too. Your reader gets every clue the friends get, so they can have a real go at solving it.

The trickiest moment comes near the end. The kids hide in a dark office while a grown-up searches it with a torch, and then a hand grabs Dink from behind and covers his mouth. It's a friend helping them escape, which is a relief straight away. A child who's nervous of the dark might want company for that chapter.

What to read next

For another case where somebody really needs the three friends' help, The Kidnapped King has a quiet new boy from a faraway country come to stay at Dink's house.