Newly acquainted cousins must solve a cryptic, puzzle-filled scavenger hunt to rescue a family heirloom in the gutsy middle-grade mystery The House of Found Objects by debut author Jo Beckett-King.
Twelve-year-old American Bea Bellerose is staying with her Aunt Juliette in Paris while her parents are away at a conference. Unfortunately, Aunt Juliette is working a lot more than planned and Bea is spending most of her time alone in the apartment or downstairs in her grandmother's antiques shop, La maison des objets trouvés. Bea has been in France for a week when the first letter (addressed to "La jeune fille") is slipped under the door. She doesn't know why she has received the letter but is excited by the prospect of solving the riddle it contains. That same day, Bea meets her cousin Céline in Mamie's store. Céline is 13 and "so grown-up" that it seems to Bea they have little in common. When a treasured family painting by Henri Matisse goes missing, Bea is certain the letter is connected. But she's on a clock--the riddle writer gave her just four days to find the drawing. Bea convinces Céline to help her navigate the city and the girls race through the streets of Paris to solve the puzzle.
Beckett-King fills this fun mystery with the sights and sounds of Paris, as well as brain teasers readers can solve along with Céline and Bea. The girls are fantastic foils, each bringing skills and qualities the other needs. This first installment in the Bea Bellerose Mystery series is delightful, charming, and full of unexpected twists. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer