School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Tweens Sophie, Margaret, Becca, and Leigh Ann-The Red Blazers-are up to their elbows in cobwebs, codes, and clues in the second installment (2010) of Michael D. Beil's fabulous series that began with The Ring of Rocamadour (2009, both Knopf, Listening Library). This time the sleuths from St. Veronica's School are searching for a valuable violin stolen from Mr. Chernofsky's music shop. Solving the mystery gets trickier when their two prime suspects have iron-clad alibis, and the clues, including cryptograms, logic, and literature-based puzzles, become more difficult. Yet the girls persevere, spending much of their time planning and deciphering clues while noshing on pastries and drinking cocoa at Perkatory, a local coffee shop. In addition to outwitting the thief, the girls form a band, discover the mystery man who is cleaning and repairing their school building, and get sweet revenge on some sour classmates. Enough references to events in the first book make this a stand-alone title, but middle graders will want to read/listen to the first book. Tai Alexandra Ricci easily slides the scale of accents, including French, British, and a superb high-society Audrey Hepburn, while capturing the curiosity, snappy banter, and sarcasm of teen speak. Beil successfully blends humor, mystery, adventure, and first love to make this second mystery even better than the first.-Cheryl Preisendorfer, Twinsburg City Schools, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.