Review: Second in Series More Exciting! Young Readers Must-Read

Rescuing Seneca Crane
A Kari + Lucas Mystery
By Susan Runholt
Viking
ISBN: 9780670062911
288 Pages


Rescuing Seneca Crane, Susan Runholt’s second book in the Kari + Lucas Mystery series is even more exciting than her first book (The Mystery of the Third Lucretia)! And Kari and Lucas are on their own to solve a kidnapping!

The “Gleesome Threesome,” Kari and her mother, Gillian, and Lucas, who got that name after starting to travel together, are now in Scotland, where Seneca Crane, a gifted, young girl of 15, would play solo with the Orchestra Pacifica.

Seneca had been very sheltered by virtue of her talent as well as her tutored schooling, so when she met Kari and Lucas, she was thrilled to be able to do things that other girls did, like stay overnight together! During every free moment Seneca had, the girls were together so that by the time the rehearsals were over and the first concert was to take place, it was quite natural for Seneca’s parents to invite Kari and Lucas to stay with Seneca while Kari’s mother took a short trip to visit with an old friend.

Through a series of small changes--like Kari leaving her mother’s phone in Seneca’s room, Kari and Lucas committing to baby-sit for the parents of a small boy they had met, and Gillian’s friend coming into town earlier than expected which allowed an earlier start—resulted in Kari and Lucas being alone after Seneca was kidnapped!

Kari and Lucas continuously tried email to reach Gillian, but one of the kidnappers had stolen Kari’s phone and was routinely texting to Gillian that everything was fine!

But it wasn’t!

Using their intelligence, logic, and the clues they had, Kari and Lucas figured out that Seneca was being held captive in a castle in the north of Scotland. Knowing that the note left about Seneca had warned against contacting the police, Kari and Lucas felt they had no other choice—they set out to rescue Seneca—and they did!

But the whole trip was dangerous and though they finally discovered and saw that Seneca was held captive, high in an old castle, there was no way to reach her because their were guards watching and waiting. Until after much thinking, Kari came up with a plan to use one of her more unusual skills!

Once Seneca has been kidnapped, the book is very fast-paced and action filled. Both Seneca and the little boy, Parker, both help in getting the girls started in the right direction by providing clues to who is involved in the kidnapping. What they find out, though, forces them to act totally on their own, at least until they meet Robbie and Jamie—two very cute “older” guys for whom the girls quickly develop crushes. Fortunately, the boys saw them as younger sisters and were worried enough to help them when the final crisis occurs!

Readers will learn a little about the extensive practice, rehearsals and performance activities of concert pianists, but this book, the kidnapping has the biggest, exciting part! Don’t miss Rescuing Seneca Crane, Second Kari + Lucas Mystery, by Susan Runholt. What a winner!

G. A. Bixler

Review: Susan Runholt Introduces Kari + Lucas Mystery Series for Ages 10-14

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia
A Kari + Lucas Mystery
By Susan Runholt
Puffin Books
ISBN: 9780142413388
278 Pages

One advantage of being a book reviewer is that you can legitimately read books that may be for the “younger” reader. For me, a good mystery is a good mystery and I’m going to enjoy it! And Susan Runholt’s new series is not only good—it’s amazingly fresh and entertaining!

Gillian Sundgren travels to cover the arts and cultural world for magazines. Her daughter Kari and Kari’s best friend, Lucas Stickney, have the opportunity to travel with her on some trips. Both Kari and Lucas are 14 and have a real interest in developing their artistic skills. In fact, it was while taking a summer class at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts where they first saw “him.”

He was there at the Art Institute. They had gone into the Rembrandt room for a short tour when they saw this older man painting in front of a special exhibit that was taking place showing Rembrandt’s two “Lucretia” paintings together—one had been loaned by another museum for this special show. Both Kari and Lucas especially liked the two paintings and the story behind them, since Lucretia was a young girl when she committed suicide. Curiosity compelled the girls to see what the old man was working on, but when Kari approached, he loudly proclaimed, “Go a-way!”

Well, we could say that the man really did have a right to say that, but for Kari, it was downright rude and she remembered the slight! Especially when she heard it again as another artist used the same phrase to a younger child—only this time, Kari heard it when they were in London!

Kari and Lucas make a good team—Lucas has a photographic memory and remains calm in most situations; Kari has intuitive feelings along with her artistic abilities. So when Kari had thought there was something suspicious about the man, Lucas used her photographic memory to verify that “both” men were the same—and they just had to find out what he was working on, knowing that it probably had something to do with art forgery!

These two girls used disguises, cameras, and sketches to gather information and even go into dangerous situations to support their growing evidence. Once they did, they got Kari’s mother involved...but the situation was getting more and more dangerous—for all of them!

Readers will quickly declare this book a “Nancy Drew” type; however, the inclusion of a considerable amount of information about the cultural world in which they travel makes the series a learning experience as well! A must-read for ages 10-14 (and above, for great mystery lovers!)

G. A. Bixler