Tokyo Heist - A Mystery Set in Japan

It's rare to find a good old fashioned mystery, solved without magic, time travel, or supernatural beings. Nevertheless, mystery stories have their own incredible elements. The young slueths, for example, must have periods of time without adult supervision. This is often achieved with transparent alibis (such as going to the library to work on a project) that end up lasting for several hours. Clues are obtained by blatant eavesdropping, or snooping in places with FBI agents in the next room. But there's a real pleasure in solving a puzzle.
For a period of time, mystery was one of the top genres for children and teens. Mystery writers such as Lois Duncan, Joan Lowery Nixon, Jay Bennett and Caroline Cooney flourished. Harry Potter changed that. The collective taste of young readers moved toward fantasy, and it became hard to recommend "a good mystery."
Tokyo Heist is a terrific read. Violet, the protagonist, is smart and funny, and the Japanese setting is satisfyingly immersive. One of the more popular sleuthing series will soon come out as a movie. More about that in our next post.