Review: This series is so much fun! Getting to not only read a mystery, but help solve it?? Um, of course I'm going to pick the book up! Unlike many choose your-own-adventure books (which I also love), with this series, not only do you get to help the characters with their choices of what suspects they talk to, and what they ask them, you also get to solve puzzles, which I love! Reading these books reminds me of playing the Nancy Drew games. I absolutely love these books as an adult, and I know as a kid I would have loved them even more. Overall, I definitely recommend this book (and the previous books) to anyone who loves a good mystery!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Case Closed #4: Danger on the Dig
by Lauren Magaziner
Pub Date 17 May 2022 | Archive Date 12 Jul 2022
HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books
Children's Fiction | Middle Grade | Mystery & Thrillers


I am reviewing a copy of Case Closed #4: Danger on the Dig through HarperCollins Children’s Books, Katherine Tegen Books and Netgalley:




Carlos and Eliza are going on separate paths, but their end goal is the same—keep the booby traps from taking their detective agency out. But they must solve tricky puzzles as well as make dozens of impossible choices, they need your help! Can you help Carlos and his friend find the lost treasure and can you protect it from the culprit trying to steal it?




Will you be able to help Carlos and his friends unravel the mystery before it’s too late? Or will it be case closed?



I give Case Closed #4 Danger in the Dig five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

What a fun book for kids in middle grades! (and ok for me in my 30s). I loved the "choose your own adventure" aspect of this book and the interactive puzzles. I've always loved reading mystery books and I would have loved the opportunity to read this book as a kid and get to feel like I was the detective.

I really enjoyed how real the relationships between the characters were. We all have had a "Frank" in our life be it a little brother or a funny friend and his goofiness was super fun.

I also really liked the use of pronouns in the book. A great way to introduce to kids that it is a normal way to introdce yourself.

Will definetly purchase for the kids in middle grades in my life.

Case Closed #4: Danger on the Dig is a unique and interactive mystery perfect for curious middle grade readers - and their parents! Carlos, Eliza and Frank, the children of the Las Pistas Detective Agency have their first case. They are in Greece, investigating thefts from an archeological dig. The archaeologists are searching for the Necklace of Harmonia which is promised to give eternal youth. Their search will be complicated by mysterious disappearances, more theft and kidnapping.

How does this end? You decide! There are choices for how to proceed. Who do you interview next? Do you turn back or go forward? What questions do you ask? There are puzzles to solve for clues. If you aren’t satisfied with the action, go back and change your decision! This is a delightful mystery that can be read over and over again. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books and Lauren Magaziner for this ARC.

Case number 4. Las Pistas Detective Agency has been hired to solve thefts on an archaeological dig. The kids were requested specifically; Carlos, Eliza, and her little brother Frank (the loud--my description). Along with Carlos's Mom, they are flown to Greece!

As a "pick your path" book, the reader comes to proverbial forks in the road where they must choose one of two options. But choose wisely! Because that choice can mean the team's success, defeat, or doom! (The books I used to read didn't include possible or certain death, but this one does!) Some endings are amusing, but some are just ridiculous.

Above all, beware of puns! Puns are terrible jokes based on word-play that children (and often dad's) enjoy. If they don't get you, something else might!

This is an inventive and sometimes silly book with thought puzzles and hard choices. Deducing who the thief is may depend on your wits or choices, but it's worth the adventure to see what happens!

Case Closed book 4 is intended for ages 8-12, but would be fun for any age, including adults. And some sections would be good "story starters" for creative writing!

Note: Las Pistas = The Clues

4/5 Stars
Revenge of the slide presenter closes the case, really? -1 Star

Thanks to Harper Collins Children's Books and NetGalley for the preview of this adventure ebook; the review is voluntary.

#CaseClosed4DangerontheDig #NetGalley