Barkerville Gold

Fresh from their adventures capturing daring art thieves in Mystery from History, Rusty, Katie and Sheila are back, sent out of town with Rusty's grandparents to keep them out of trouble. This time the trio is in historic Barkerville, a gold rush town with a secret. After witnessing what they take to be a ghost in the night, the three friends find themselves involved in a mystery from the past that seems to have a few other people interested as well. New information has come to light about a fortune in missing gold, a centuries-old curse and a missing miner. While the three budding detectives try and figure out which of the aging prospectors they keep running into is actually a ghost, they find they are in a race against time to recover the gold and return it to its rightful owners to avert a tragedy. Will they find the gold in time? Or will they suffer the fate of Three Finger Evans, the missing miner?

in Vancouver, British Colombia, Eleven-year-old Dinah Resolves To Find The Link Between The Buck-toothed Prowler Who Seems To Be Stalking Her Older Sister And The Strange ...

school Library Journal

gr 4-6-when A Bucktoothed Prowler Begins To Stalk Madge Galloway, A Local Teen Model In Vancouver, British Columbia, Her Inquisitive Younger Sister Vows To Track Him Down And Bring Him To Justice. Dinah Has An Appetite For Adventure As Well As For Gleaning Fresh Produce From The Neighbors' Yards. When She Is Not Tormenting Her Sister Over Her Stuck-up Boyfriend, Whose Dad Happens To Own The Agency Where Madge Works, The 11-year-old Uses Her Resources To Fight Video-game Monsters And Sing For Free Ice Cream At The Local Gelati Shop. Dinah Befriends A Young Man Who Is House-sitting For Her Neighbors, The Rinaldis, And Who Also Does Volunteer Work For An Antismoking Organization. Before Long, Dinah Begins To Suspect That There Are Connections Among The Prowler, Repeated Break-ins To The Rinaldi House, And A Deal Between The Modeling Agency And Fields Tobacco. The Characters Avoid Broad Stereotypes (madge Actually Prefers Painting To Modeling) And Have Interesting Backgrounds, Even Though The Situations They Find Themselves In Stretch Credibility At Times. Unfortunately, The Vibrant Personalities Are Often Bogged Down With Forced Dialogue And Overexplained Situations. Still, This Is A Fun, Lighthearted Story That Also Deals Thoughtfully With Serious Issues Such As Substance Abuse And Self-esteem.-farida S. Dowler, Formerly At Bellevue Regional Library, Wa

Dinah Galloway, fresh from her adventures with spies and burglars, is back in a hilarious new adventure. Chosen for a lead role in the musical version of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, eleven-year-old Dinah, amateur detective, budding singer and owner of a huge appetite, is once again embroiled in a mystery that puts her in peril and offers plenty of opportunities for humor and good food. When Dinah wins the part of Coretta Cuff, a singing detective, in an adaptation of what many consider the first detective novel, she finds that all is not as it seems around the theater. The producer, trying to unload a bunch of knockoffs of his priceless ring, the famed Murdock Moonstone, has orchestrated a publicity stunt with the actual ring in attendance on opening night. Dinah is convinced that there is a plot to steal the gem. Armed with her freckled nose for mystery and her unerring sense of right and wrong, Dinah attempts to uncover the culprit before the curtain rises. While exploring near an abandoned oceanfront mansion, Katie, Sheila and Rusty stumble across a long-buried mystery and a present-day crime. Seeing themselves as amateur detectives, the three friends take on a case the local police department seems determined to ignore and in the process they put their own lives in the utmost danger. Spanning more than a century and covering a large chunk of history of Victoria, the conspiracy reaches from Spanish pirates to the highest levels of the present-day police department. Intertwined with bloodthirsty pirates, native legends, stolen Gold rush bullion and a lost diary, Katie, Sheila and Rusty uncover an international ring of art thieves and smugglers who are tied to the past in the most unexpected way. Discounted by the police and eager to solve the case on their own, the amateur detectives have their lives threatened several times; they must use all their resources to outwit the thieves. Confronting a prowler in the backyard, Dinah is determined to find out why someone has taken an interest in her older sister and herself. Who is the buck-tooth burglar? Why are the Rinaldi's tomatoes always involved? And what is the connection between Madge's boyfriend and GASP, a group of well-intentioned anti-smoking activists? When it becomes apparent that Wellman Talent, the modeling agency Madge works for, is making deals with an unscrupulous tobacco company, and that the spy is out to sabotage GASPís plans to expose the connection, Dinah has to call on all her talents, both sleuthing and singing, to solve the case. In the spirit of Sammy Keyes, Dinah gets by on pluck, courage and an irrepressible sense of humor as she is catapulted into a mystery that twists and turns from the blackberry patch to the corporate boardroom. This time the trio is in historic Barkerville, a gold rush town with a secret. Rusty, Katie and Sheila are sent out of town with Rusty's grandparents to keep them out of trouble. After witnessing what they take to be a ghost in the night, the three friends find themselves involved in a mystery from the past that seems to have a few other people interested as well. New information has come to light about a fortune in missing gold, a centuries-old curse and a missing miner. While the three budding detectives try and figure out which of the aging prospectors they keep running into is actually a ghost, they find they are in a race against time to recover the gold and return it to its rightful owners to avert a tragedy. Will they find the gold in time? Or will they suffer the fate of Three Finger Evans, the missing miner? While exploring near an abandoned oceanfront mansion, Katie, Sheila and Rusty stumble across a long-buried mystery and a present day crime. The three amateur detectives take on a case the local police department seems determined to ignore, and in the process they put their own lives in the utmost danger. Grades 4-7. 2001 While Exploring A Haunted House In Victoria, British Columbia, Eleven-year-old Katie, Together With Her Friend Sheila, And Younger Cousin Rusty, Stumbles Upon A Mystery Involving Long-ago Pirates, Ghosts, And A Present-day Ring Of International Art Thieves. While exploring a haunted house in Victoria, British Colombia, eleven-year-old Katie, together with her friend Sheila, and younger cousin Rusty, stumbles upon a mystery involving long-ago pirates, ghosts, and a present-day ring of international art thieves. In Vancouver, British Columbia, eleven-year-old Dinah resolves to find the link between the buck-toothed prowler who seems to be stalking her older sister and the strange series of burglaries in the house next door When eleven-year-old Dinah Galloway is chosen for a lead role in the musical version of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, she stumbles onto a plot to steal a priceless ring When eleven-year-old detective Dinah Galloway gets a part in the musical adaptation of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, she stumbles onto a plot to steal a priceless ring Rusty, Katie and Sheila journey to historic Barkerville where they become involved in a search for missing gold Rusty squeezed farther into the corner and stared gloomily out the narrow window beside him.