Scarlett Undercover…a new mystery

scarlettundercover

Latham, Jennifer.  Scarlett Undercover.  New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2015.  978-0-316-28393-9. 310 p.  $18.00.  Gr. 7-10.

Sixteen-year-old Scarlett graduated high school two years early and opened her own detective agency in the city of Las Almas.  When a young girl named Gemma comes to Scarlett claiming that her brother may have had something to do with his friend’s suicide and asking her to look into it, Scarlett feels compelled to take the case.  As Scarlett begins to investigate the case, she is thrown into a world of ancient myths, conspiracies, and cults.  The case becomes personal when two girls begin trailing Scarlett, an ancient relic is stolen from the apartment she shares with her sister, and she begins to unearth secrets about her father’s murder.  The plot moves along quickly, as Scarlett must figure out who to trust and solve the case before anyone else she cares about gets hurt.

Mystery (Folklore)                    Julie Ritter, Montoursville Area High School

Scarlett is a smart, sassy, and likeable narrator that readers will find themselves rooting for throughout the story.  The action, folklore, and ancient mysteries that are woven into the story will appeal to fans of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.  Because Scarlett is Muslim American, Muslim traditions are also woven into the story.  These, along with folklore about King Solomon, might also make this title appealing to history lovers.

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