The Stolen Gem
A
Vicki Silver Mystery
Alissa
Wood
Summertime Books (Paperback)
ISBN-10: 0-9801861-0-2 (0980186102)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9801861-0-9 (9780980186109)
Publication Date: November 2007
List Price: $7.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): When a priceless diamond is stolen from the Heritage Museum, Vicki Silver and her best friend C.J. are immediately on the case. The girls get jobs as tour guides for the museum, and hope to unearth all the clues they will need to solve the mystery. Once on the inside, can they piece together the puzzle and discover the thief's identity, or will he discover their's first? Police Chief Stevens isn't much help when the girls present evidence pointing to the mastermind. So, they must set out on their own to bring the suspects to justice.
Review:
Alissa Wood introduces 17-year-old Vicki Silver in the first book of a young adult mystery series, The
Stolen Gem. The series is set in (fictional) Sport, Maine.
Vicki and her friend C. J. Summers look forward to their first case
when a valuable diamond is reported missing, presumed stolen, from a
local museum. They get hired as tour guides and befriend Rick, the
security guard for the museum, who allows them access to places
off-limits to visitors and other staff. When the girls are threatened,
they know they must be close to finding the answers to what happened to
the stolen gem.
The Stolen Gem
borrows heavily from the Nancy Drew series of mysteries which works
both to its advantage and to its detriment. On the positive side, the
characters, plot outline, and setting are all tried and true winners
and should be capable of sustaining a new series. On the negative side, the
book lacks a fresh voice and that's a bit of a disappointment.
A more serious problem in this first book is that the plot details
simply aren't well thought out. The premise behind the girls'
investigation, for example, is to locate the missing diamond. It's
found rather early in the book. The logical move here is to turn it
over to the police. Case closed. But inexplicably, the gem is replaced
in its hiding place opening up all sorts of possibilities for the thief
to dispose of it before it is "found" again, and the focus suddenly
shifts to identifying the culprit. The logic here doesn't follow. When
the plot loses its credibility, the rest of the story
suffers.
Though The Stolen Gem
is a weak start to the series, the characters are likable and the
action sequences are well done. With stronger storylines, the Vicki
Silver Mysteries definitely has the potential to develop into an
interesting series.
Special thanks to Summertime Books for providing a copy of The Stolen Gem for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
The Stolen Gem
Summertime Books (Paperback), November 2007
ISBN-10: 0-9801861-0-2 (0980186102)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9801861-0-9 (9780980186109)
Cruise Control
Summertime Books (Paperback), March 2008
ISBN-10: 0-9801861-1-0 (0980186110)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9801861-1-6 (9780980186116)
Omnimystery keywords for The Stolen Gem ...
Location(s) referenced: Maine.