Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks KIDS for the ARC in exchange for the honest review.

The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle follows the story of Grady, who along with his father come into an unexpected inheritance from the town's peculiar figure, Eudora Klinch, unfortunately referred to Kooky Klinch. A house might have helped with their dwindling financial situation, even a savings account; instead they land up with a cloth that promises to be a treasure map. Grady's father has no interest in pursuing a lost cause, but Grady sees a chance to fix their money problems. Teaming up with his friends, he decides to follow the clues to uncover the treasure that Eudora promises.

I thought this was a very cute mystery! I love anything with a treasure map and young protagonists and found family, and the good thing about this mystery is that I loved how the author linked Grady's ambition and tenacity to the fact that he and his family are having money problems — while I love a good stubborn protag who's in it for the adventure and just the adventure, it's always good to see a real-life reason behind why protagonists do what they do. And here, knowing at the heart of Grady's obsession with the mystery, is a desperation that makes sense, that really cinched this story for me.

Ultimately though, while I thought the pacing meshed well with the mystery, I did wish the actual mystery itself would be a lot more compelling? I found the plot dragged in places, and I think I wanted a stronger antagonist, but that was mainly my issues with the story. Other than that, an absolutely solid middle grade mystery with decent characters!

this had what I was hoping for from a children's novel, it had a great concept and worked well with what was given. The characters worked wiht the world that I was looking for and felt realistic. I enjoyed reading this a lot and going on this journey. I can't wait to read more from Taryn Souders as I enjoyed this.

“What I said was the history of samplers is actually pretty interesting, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that there could be a hidden message in the one Eudora left you,” Clemmie said. “One of the articles I read online—from a museum, not some doofus site—mentioned some samplers contained symbols that meant stuff. Kind of like coded messages.”