The Dark Stairs: A Herculeah Jones Mystery [Paperback]

Betsy Byars (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Herculeah Jones Mystery

Mystery is in Herculeah Jones' blood. How could it be any other way, with a father on the police force and a mother who runs a private eye business? Herculeah can't resist the case of Dead Oaks. The old estate is a local legend, the site of a murder and an unsolved disappearance. Now history could be repeating itself--unless Herculeah can crack the case.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Given a policeman for a father and a private investigator for a mother, could 13-year-old Herculeah Jones be anything but a sleuth? Drafting her neighbor and sometimes reluctant sidekick, Meat, she sets out to uncover the mystery of the decaying mansion known as Dead Oaks, eventually finding the body from a long-ago murder and correctly concluding that a particularly disconcerting client of her mother's is to blame. With her eye for telling detail and her penchant for strong, quirky characters, the Newbery Medalist spices her narrative with equal measures of suspense and humor (for example, Herculeah's father, with his chronically rumpled jacket and loose tie, looks "not like a detective, but like a man who was lost"). Herculeah, as strong and dauntless as her name suggests, emerges as a distinctive and engaging heroine. The conclusion may not be altogether satisfying--Herculeah literally stumbles across the body, instead of reasoning out its location, and the pivotal figure of the murderer remains shadowy. These quibbles notwithstanding, Herculeah's adventures are sure to entertain, and hints of a sequel are heartening. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-Move over Nancy Drew, Herculeah Jones has arrived! Strong and agile, she lives up to her name and seems capable of solving any case that comes her way; with a private investigator mother and a police detective father, she has a natural interest in mysterious situations. In this first volume of what is sure to be a popular series, Herculeah becomes fascinated with a forbidding estate and a frightening-looking client of her mother's. She capitalizes on her contact in the police department (her father) and listens to her mother's recorded interviews with her client; by refusing to follow rules set by her parents when she is driven to get closer to the truth, she succeeds in closing a case. She escapes after being locked in a dark and musty basement and discovers a hidden staircase, at the bottom of which lays the long-missing, dead owner of Dead Oaks. Byars has created a likable cast of main characters. Herculeah's friend Meat serves as the perfect comic foil for her intensity; he seems as if he could be a first cousin to Bingo Brown. There is plenty to laugh at in this book, including classic chapter headings guaranteed to cause shivers for the uninitiated; practiced mystery readers may feel that they are in on a bit of a joke and appreciate the hint of parody. This is a page-turner that is sure to entice the most reluctant readers.
Ellen Fader, Oregon State Library, Salem
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140369961
• ISBN-13: 978-0140369960
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,221,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #35 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( B ) > Byars, Betsy

More About the Author

Betsy Byars began her writing career rather late in life First, she married and started a family. The writing career didn't emerge until she was 28, a mother of two children, and living in a small place she called the barracks apartment, in Urbana, Illinois. She and her husband, Ed, had moved there in 1956 so he could attend graduate school at the University of Illinois. She was bored, had no friends, and so turned to writing to fill her time. Byars started writing articles for The Saturday Evening Post, Look,and other magazines. As her family grew and her children started to read, she began to write books for young people and, fortunately for her readers, discovered that there was more to being a writer than sitting in front of a typewriter. "Once a wanderer came by my house and showed me how to brush my teeth with a cherry twig; that went in The House of WingsThe Summer of the Swans." Since that time, Byars has written more than 45 books for young readers and has won numerous awards, including The American Book Award, which she received in 1981 for The Night Swimmers. The humor, compassion, and insight Byars brings to each of her books won her a large audience of admirers both in the United States and abroad. Six of her novels were presented on national television, and her books are translated into nine languages. Six of Byars' novels have been named ALA Notable Books, and in 1971, The Summer of the Swans -- a story about a 14-year-old girl and her mentally retarded brother -- won the Newbery Award as the most distinguished contribution to literature for children in the year of its publication. Byars was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 7, 1928. Unlike many of the characters in her books, Byars grew up in a normal, loving family. Her father was an engineer and worked as a bookkeeper in a cotton mill. He was stern and hardworking and had a strong sense of humor. Her mother was a lively woman who loved acting and music. Byars's sister, Nancy, two years older, was sometimes an inspiration and sometimes an evil nemesis. Byars has always been adventurous and never allows a few setbacks to prevent her from doing things she wants to experience, like petting a blacksnake and flying planes. The snake was named Moon and became the subject of her 1991 autobiography, The Moon and I. Betsy Byars and her husband live on an air strip in South Carolina, and have traveled widely throughout the United States in pursuit of their interest in gliding and antique airplanes. They have four grown children and seven grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! Good characters! Full of suspense and mystery!, May 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Stairs (Herculeah Jones Mystery) (Hardcover)

The Dark Stairs is a great book for people who love suspense,mysteries and fright. I've read this book four times and it and itgets better every time. The story is a about a teenage girl who's parents both hold law inforcing invetigation occupations. The fun starts when the mystery of the mysterious Dead Oaks, an estate that has been deserted for years, is investigated by Herculeah and her friend Meat. The plot contains lots of 'who, what, where, when, how and why.' To read this book you become one of the characters and that's the best part about reading The Dark Stairs!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Dark Stairs Review, May 6, 2010

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Dark Stairs: A Herculeah Jones Mystery (Paperback)

I like this book because I like mysteries.If you like Betsy Byars books,you would like the Herculeah Jones mystery books, because they are funny but they have suspence.My favorite part was when Herculeah found a dead body.I recommend this book to any 4th-8th grader because I think a lot of kids that age would like her books because the words are at their reading level.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Will Meat and Herculeah solve the mystery today?, February 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dark Stairs: A Herculeah Jones Mystery (Paperback)

I think The Dark Stairs is a great book because it is the first mystery that caught my attention. I would give this book 5 stars. I like when you don't know what Herculeah will do or if Meat will get in trouble. I think this book is a good book for fourth and fifth graders. Read this book.