The A&A Detective Agency

July 24, 2023
Indian American Asha Singh and her best friend Alex Foster, who reads as white, are the 12-year-old founders of A&A Detective Agency, which they run out of Alex’s backyard tree house. Though they haven’t yet had an official opportunity to exercise their investigative skills, the pair are dedicated sleuths who believe that their knowledge of their town’s history—and their rapport with Dr. Alistair Fairfleet, one of Northbrook’s most prominent citizens—is the key to legitimizing their agency. When Dr. Fairfleet goes missing on the day of a solar eclipse, Asha and Alex, along with numerous museum directors, receive cryptic messages containing clues about what happened to him. As the tweens decode the messages, many of which include quotes from King Lear, they become embroiled in a wild treasure hunt through the various museums, a local performing arts center, and Dr. Fairfleet’s home. But what starts as a missing persons case devolves into something even more nefarious involving blackmail, forgery, and smuggling. Despite thinly characterized protagonists, the intricate plot—jam-packed with brain teasers, convoluted twists, and red herrings—keeps readers in suspense while neatly paving the way for a sequel in Saxton’s series-starting debut. Ages 8–12.

September 15, 2023
Grades 4-6 Not every detective agency has its office in a tree house, and few are staffed by bright, inquisitive middle-schoolers like Asha and Alex. Good friends and partners in crime solving, they're trying to find clues in an email sent by Dr. Fairfleet, the director of the distinguished Fairfleet Institute. The message challenges them to help him by solving the mystery of his disappearance three weeks earlier. Since he has sent the same message to four others (all adults on the Fairfleet Institute staff, including the one responsible for his disappearance), the race is on to untangle the mystery and find Dr. Fairfleet by the date specified in his message. Determined to solve the case, Alex and Asha earn readers' respect along the way. In her first novel, Saxton reveals a knack for constructing a mystery, planting baffling clues, and creating interesting characters of varied ages. Tension rises and falls, but the pace of the narrative never falters, and readers will enjoy seeing the puzzle pieces fall into place during the satisfying conclusion. A smart, involving first novel.

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August 1, 2023
A notable disappearance leaves two young sleuths with a stirring and surprise-filled summer case. Dr. Alistair Fairfleet is the aging chairman of the Fairfleet Institute, located in the fictional New England town of Northbrook, and a major investor in eighth graders Alex Foster and Asha Singh's A&A Detective Agency. After Dr. Fairfleet vanishes during a solar eclipse on the kids' first day of summer vacation, the young detectives receive a letter that includes four names of people connected to the institute: an archivist, a performing arts director, an art museum director, and a natural history museum curator. When Alex and Asha learn that these individuals also received letters with clues, it sends them into mystery-solving overdrive. In the weeks that follow, they encounter literal and metaphorical red herrings as they unearth clues and solve multilayered puzzles connected to the visual arts, Shakespeare, archaeology, history, and more. The winding plot drives the action and excitement, while an emphasis on the characters' interactions provides relatable snapshots into the tensions that can arise in authentic relationships. Themes relating to morality, bias, and honesty are illustrated through the characters as well as the history the detectives unearth, leaving readers with a satisfying ending, several mysteries solved, and deeper questions to ponder about inheritance, cultural heritage, and record-keeping. Alex is cued white; Asha is Indian American, and there is some racial diversity in the supporting cast. A complex, cinematic, and eclectic page-turner. (Mystery. 8-12)

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