Coop Knows the Scoop

After his dad died five years ago, 13-year-old Coop and his mother moved to Windy Bottom, Ga., to live with the boy’s paternal grandfather. Construction at the local playground unearths a skeleton that is soon revealed to be that of Coop’s grandmother, who left when Coop’s dad was young. Everyone assumed she had abandoned the family—a terse note from the fashionable woman said she had to get away from small-town life—but it now seems that she was murdered. Suspects begin to emerge, from the town funeral director, who bakes muffins that reek of formaldehyde, to a family that has long hated Coop’s. When his grand-father becomes a person of interest, Coop, an avid mystery reader who has just come into his father’s old Hardy Boys books, becomes determined to find out who committed the crime, even if that person is Gramps. Delightfully quirky townsfolk and details of small-town life create the perfect backdrop for this deftly plotted mystery by Souders (How to [Almost] Ruin Your Summer). Well-placed red herrings and clues will have readers guessing until the truth comes out. Ages 8–12. [em]Agent: Sally Apokedak, Apokedak Literary. (July) [/em]