My daughter took one look at the book cover and I could tell she wasn't interested in reading it. As usual, I gave her the “let's give it a chance” speech and before you know it we got into this book and enjoyed trying to solve its mysteries.

Viola Hart is new to Moon Hollow. She is described as short and a bit plump, with freckles, bright blue eyes, and an explosion of red curly hair. Her toenails are painted fluorescent green, she wears bright red flip-flops and carries a notebook for recording possible clues. My daughter and I loved her instantly.

Her curiosity and friendly manner are infectious. Viola befriends her next-door neighbour Rosie along with two boys, Sylvester and Woodrow, and together they form The Four Corners Mystery Club. The four friends quickly catch on about being alert to what is happening in their neighbourhood and together solve the mystery about what appears to be a haunted house and ghostly appearances on their street.

What my daughter and I enjoyed the most was trying to figure in six clues or less the various mysteries they encountered. As readers we were invited to guess alongside the four young detectives and this was fun. It meant we had to be alert to the subtle hints or clues as we read.

But the fun doesn't end here. The second book The Mysterious Four: Clocks and Robbers comes out this July. If you have kids who like mystery stories, this will turn out to be a great series for them, especially since it's targeted for both girls and boys. It reminds me of when I was growing up and got together with a group of kids (boys and girls) and actually played make-believe or started our own club. It`s a wholesome book with mystery and suspense thrown in and a good dose of friendship. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: Thanks to Nikole Kritikos from Scholastic Canada for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Every Saturday, Booking Mama hosts a feature called Kid Konnection—a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, visit Booking Mama.

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