Brixton Brothers: The Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity

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             I have this cover, but after reading the book I prefer the original one.

Barnett, M. (2009). Brixton brothers: The case of the case of the mistaken identity. (Rex, A. illus.). Simon & Schuster. 179 pages. ISBN 9781416978169

Primary genre: mystery

Other Elements: adventure, humor

Intended reader age: 8-12

Synopsis:

Steve Brixton is a 12-year-old aspiring detective. His free time is taken up with reading (actually re-reading) the 58 books in the Bailey Brothers Mysteries series as well as the Bailey Brother’s Detective Handbook, which is full of all the how-to’s. When Steve’s favorite teacher assigns a last minute research paper, however, Steve’s life is thrown upside down as he becomes embroiled in a mystery worthy of his favorite series. Steve’s attempt to simply check out a book at the local library gets him tagged as a person of interest in a matter of national security. Steve pulls upon the countless examples supplied by his favorite fictional detectives to crack the case wide open.

Review:

I found the book to be a fun, quick read. The author uses humor quite often in a way that demonstrates his understanding of what type of books this is. You can almost hear the author saying, “Did you see what I did there?” in many places. There were no major surprises and it was fairly easy to guess early on who the mastermind behind the mystery was.

Steve made a great main character and amateur sleuth. He retained an unfailing belief in his heroes and the Handbook through the entire mystery despite the many instances of impractical advice that was given. I also found it quite humorous of him to decide to start a Brixton Brother’s detective service when he does not in fact have a brother to assist him in this endeavor.

Even though the author relied on some traditional interactions between the tweens and adults (adults were often placating with Steve) there were other instances where the adults raised him to their level. In the former instance Steve’s mom’s new boyfriend belittles Steve’s favorite series and in the later instance the secret branch of the government attempts to get Steve to join their side and solve the case.

There are now three other books in the series (The Ghostwriter Secret, It Happened on a Train, and Danger Goes Berserker). There were instances where I was reminded of the book Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma; a book also about an amateur sleuth but who draws inspiration from black-and-white Noir movies.