Customer Reviews

The 100-Year-Old Secret (Sherlock Files)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is terrific! Mystery, adventure, history, and lots of fun characters. I can usually solve the mystery fairly early, but this one had me hooked to the end. I look forward to Barrett's next mystery!

My neighbor's daughter includes Tracy Barrett in her list of all-time favorite authors, and THE 100-YEAR-OLD SECRET is a perfect example of why. Everything about this book - the characters, the premise, the setting, the mystery itself - made me remember how much I loved mysteries as a kid. If your child adores a good whodunnit, this is the perfect book for him/her.

My daughter who is ten loves mysteries and she really enjoyed this book. She is looking forward to other books in the series.

My Mom bought me this book and I could not put it down, I kept me interested. I am 13 years old.

This fun and suspenseful whodunit is sure to delight readers!

When American twins Xena and Xander move to London, they learn they're direct descendants of the great detective Sherlock Holmes. After they're given his casebook of unresolved cases - complete with clues - the twins enter a surprising journey of mystery and intrigue that take them all over London and its suburbs.

Sherlock Holmes fans will appreciate how author Tracy Barrett masterfully weaves bits and pieces from the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into her book.

I couldn't put this page-turner down! Complete with a quaint English village, Henry the Eighth's mansion, boarding schools, and numerous art galleries, this book will please thrill-seeking readers.

Whenever I read Encyclopedia Brown I think of those bathroom books - you know, the ones with the five minute mysteries and logic puzzles. I think the Brown books are great at introducing the idea of deductive reasoning, but because of their episodic nature they really don't work too well as sustained works of fiction. That's why my hat is off to Ms. Barrett for this series.

Think how hard it is to come up with a decent mystery, and reasonable characters, in a short book intended for younger readers. Well, these Sherlock Holmes Files books probably come as close to pulling that off as can be expected. The sibling protagonists are appealing, and the usual sibling rivalry/teasing is kept to a minimum. Secondary characters are stock, but fairly effective. Everyone is very cheerful and helpful, and clues do just sort of poke out here and there, but I'm not sure there's anything you can do about that. The Sherlock Holmes connection adds a nice dash of color, and the references to actual Holmes stories will probably amuse adults who are helping or are reading to the youngsters.

So, if your reader likes hidden secret type mysteries, or if you want to try one out, this is a perfectly fine place to start.

I would have loved this book when I was a tween/teen but my kids thought the action was unrealistic and the characters too goody-goody. The story involves siblings Xena and Xander Holmes, who are visiting London with their parents; while there they discover that they are indeed descendants of Sherlock Holmes and they've inherited his book of unsolved cases. In this first outing they search for a missing painting and use deductive reasoning to discern its location. The mystery is interesting and the reasoning are plausible.

What a fun mystery! Two American children, Xena Holmes, 12, and her brother, Xander, 10, have just arrived in London and are settling in, when they find out that they are the great-great-great-grandchildren of Sherlock Holmes. They inherit his notebook of unsolved cases, and it turns out they've also inherited his sleuthing talent! And Watson's great-great-great-grandson, Andrew Watson, plays an important part in solving the case they're working on, which involves the whereabouts of a valuable painting that went missing more than 100 years ago.

In addition to the mystery plot itself, I enjoyed the Sherlockian lore woven throughout the story, the setting, the lively characters, and the way Xena and Xander learn the differences between British and American English (e.g., "biscuits" for "cookies," "football" for "soccer"). Reading this series just may inspire kids to go on to the original tales by Arthur Conan Doyle.

There's a new mystery series on the block.

Now, the only thing better than a Henry Holt book is a story by children's author Tracy Barrett. Put them together and you'd expect a fun book, which is exactly what this pair supplies.

This first book in a new series introduces us to American siblings who travel to London. There, they learn that they're related to the great detective, Sherlock Holmes. Of course, Xena and Xander are wanna-be detectives and Barrett doesn't waste any time throwing them into their first real mystery.

Just a few pages into the story, the kids receive Sherlock Holmes' unsolved casebook. Can two American kids do what Sherlock Holmes couldn't? Barrett's story moves quickly, but not too quickly. Each new clue leads to new questions. Solving one mystery simply exposes another!

Barrett masterfully paints the characters of Xena and Xander while launching the story's plot, and I like that. I so much want to turn that first page in every book I read and this one certainly didn't disappoint me. Barrett's beginning is a charming device that sets up the plot without boring the reader. Everything fits.

I loved the way Barrett uses a fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, to lend credibility to her characters. In addition, she gives Xander a photographic memory so the kids have quick access to information in a fun way. It's a marvelous way to solve a literary problem while making Xander a "real boy." Kids will easily identify with both Xena and Xander because Barrett allows them to be kids, not just miniatures detectives. Xena and Xander matter just as much as solving the mystery.

Two children.
Two incredibly talented children. One has amazing athletic abilities; the other has a photographic memory. Handy!
Two descendants of Sherlock Holmes, working on one of his unsolved mysteries.
Too perfect.
Enjoyable, but too perfect. This one sends me back to The Brixton Brothers -- the children are just TOO perfect.