4 out of 4 stars
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Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat by R.F Kristi, stars Inca, a cat detective who travels with her animal friends, explores new places, and solves mysteries while she’s at it. Her adventures are recorded in illustrated diary form, which is sure to be enjoyed by the intended audience of 7-12 year old children.
At the beginning of the book, the reader is introduced to Inca, her family tree, and the members of Inca & Company Detective Agency. Although this book is the seventh in the Inca Book Series, this introduction makes it possible for readers who have not read the other books to enjoy this book as a stand alone story.
In this story, Inca’s destination is Galle, a seaside village in Sri Lanka. She travels there from London with her family, leaving the other members of the Detective Agency behind. But on only the second day of her family holiday, she discovers that a valuable antique sword has been stolen from a local museum. Then Inca’s friends Solo, an international detective, and his dog, Terrance, arrive from London to investigate the crime, and it is only a matter of time before Inca and her family get involved in solving the mystery. When she makes friends with a turtle on the beach and a local elephant mother and baby, Inca’s animal detective team in Sri Lanka is complete.
Inca’s diary weaves descriptions of her travels together with accounts of her snooping and the evidence which eventually helps her to solve the crime. This structure means that children can learn about the geography, wildlife and monuments in Sri Lanka at the same time as they follow an engaging mystery story. Both strands of the story are enhanced by the colourful illustrations, which show the animal characters and depict key events in the story.
I read this book with my 6-year-old, who loves animals, especially cats. She enjoyed it, and has asked me to re-read it with her a number of times since. She especially likes looking at the pictures, and talking about which characters she can see and what they are doing.
The text of the book appeared to be professionally proofread and edited. The only real criticism I had, at least of the kindle edition which I read, was that I felt that the page layout could be improved. Some of the diary entry titles appeared at the bottom of the previous page, and the illustrations did not always appear on the same page as the section of the story they corresponded to. However, this did not detract from our enjoyment of the book. I would definitely recommend it for its intended target audience of children aged 7-12, as well as adult parents, teachers or caregivers who enjoy reading to or with children in that age range. It would be a particularly good fit for children who like animals, enjoy mysteries, or have read and enjoyed series like the Magic Tree House. I have no hesitation in rating this book 4 out of 4 stars, and I look forward to checking out the other books in the series.
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Serendipity Mystery: Diary of a Snoopy Cat
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