Customer Reviews

The Case of the Mystery Weekend (Mathnet Casebook)

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This book, written by two Square One TV bigwigs --- David Connell and Jim Thurman is a novelization of what was possibly the best Mathnet case ever. In it, George Frankly and his new partner Pat Tuesday go on a Mystery Weekend after Frankly's wife Martha becomes unavailable. Once there, they find they've taken a wrong turn when guests start disappaering with notes say that "Justice will be done."

Math is cleverly used to solve the problem and explore patterns. The retelling is spot on, with most of the funny stuff from the original story. There's also new material added in and a great lesson told in this book.

Cliches abound in this enchanting tale of mathematics used to examine crime. En route to a role playing mystery weekend, the two principles take a wrong turn and become involved in a real-life vendetta. Complete with a "dark and stormy night' backdrop, a Gothic style house with abundant secret passages and a proper English butler named Peeved, the action is sure to enchant adolescents of all ages.
The jokes are mostly puns of the groaner variety, but are sometimes subtle enough to require a second thought. The two leading characters are specialists in using mathematics to solve their cases and they move through several possible scenarios in an attempt to find the pattern to the crimes. The main point, that mathematics is more than just arithmetic, is well made and will spark an interest in the other areas that make up the field of mathematics.
This book belongs in every elementary school library and it will be given to my children to read in a few years.