Kim Harrington's new mystery series Sleuth or Dare for tweens promises to be a hit as her debut starts off suspenseful and smart. Darcy and Norah are best friends and different as night and day. Darcy is bold, has a penchant for getting into trouble and is a computer wiz. Norah is smart, loves astronomy and likes helping others. They work perfectly together starting a detective agency for a school project and are surprised when a real missing-person case lands on their lap.

The story is told by Norah in first-person POV. Harrington does a wonderful job of immersing us into the seventh grader world and she captures tweens just right! My daughter and I loved reading this book together, although my daughter finished it before me because she couldn't put it down. I liked the fact that although parents are in the background, they are still involved in the story without taking anything away from the tween characters.

I could see my daughter related to Norah. We loved her voice. She is smart but has insecurities. She has a crush on a boy, but it doesn't take over her whole life. Darcy is a no nonsense kind of gal, and we liked the fact that she stands up for what she believes. Harrington has built her characters well with a plausible plot that is well paced and builds to a suspenseful climax and satisfying conclusion. There are funny moments throughout that made this a fun read too. The supporting characters are great, and I can see how the author has prepared us to follow this whole cast into the second book.

My daughter has already asked me to get the next book in this series titled Sleuth or Dare #2: Sleepover Stakeout. I'm looking forward to reading it just as much as she is.

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