Customer Reviews

Swindled! The 1906 Journal of Fitz Morgan (Crime Through Time, No. 1)

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

 

 

I bought this book (and the second one in the series -- Nabbed!) as a gift for my neice, but I have to confess that I read it first myself. I didn't mean to, really, but I flipped open to the first page to get a sense of it, and I found it so interesting that I actually decided I had to finish it, and the second book too. I think it's really clever how you get to know the family and get involved in the mysteries, through the clues and the forensic information given. The way the author makes the period come alive is particularly effective as well. This is no dry historical fiction, that's for sure.

Oh, and by the way -- my neice loved it too! I highly recommend it for young readers, but I urge the parents to sneak a read of it themselves.

I loved this book! I finished it (with the help of my dad) over the course of three nights and tried to guess all of the mysteries. I can't wait to see what characters are in the next book. What happens to Asyla???

My students are waiting in line to read this book! Its illustrations support and add interest to the historical elements of the story. Light humor, appealing characterizations, and intrique accessible to 5th graders make it a must read.

Wow!! What a great series. As a homeschooling mom, I could not be more happy with this series of books. My 10 year old is enthralled - I even loved the book when I pre-read it! The mystery is detailed just enough to capture and hold the young reader's attention. The historical facts are delivered in a manner that entertains without lecturing. Keep it up Bill Doyle!

I bought both Swindled and Nabbed for my nieces and nephews, but before turning them over to the kids, read them myself! The books each provide an engaging mystery set in a different time period, and give kids the opportunity to learn about events going on at that time. One particularly nice thing about the books is that they will appeal to a wide variety of children -- some will be taken with the story alone, others will really enjoy learning about the history of the US, forensic science, and detective skills.

I started the book and didn't put it down until I was done. I really loved it!!! I want Mom to get me number 3, 4 & 5 .... I can't wait until they are out!

Elizabeth Fitzpatrick Morgan is going on a trip from New York to San Francisco on a continental express train. Elizabeth has a dream of being a detective. On the train, Elizabeth meets the daughter of the most famous detective in the country. Her name is Judge. Throughout the story Judge and Elizabeth become very close. At one point, Elizabeth fakes her gender: will this hurt their friendship? Suddenly, a big problem starts to develop on the train. Left and right people are getting poisened. Who is poisening people? Luckily, Judge's family has a laboratory car on the train where there is the latest investigation technology availible. Judge and Elizabeth start to narrow down the suspects and become very close to solving the mystery. Will they solve it? Will Judge or Elizabeth get poisened? What will happen?
Swindled was ok. Although the mystery made you want to keep going, sometimes you felt very bored. The characters were not described very well either. I would recommend this book to the ages 7-10. It doesn't have enough of a plot for kids older than 10. Also, the author doesn't mention the condition of the poisened people after they've been poisened. This was a good pageturner, but after you read it, it seemed boring.

This book is so clever and fun and surprising, I read it twice--and the second time, I read it aloud to my nephew, who was riveted. He loved the illustrations and all the "real life" stuff that helps you solve the mystery--the postcards, the ad about the secret service hiring. And he LOVED the sidebar about how to compare fingerprints; he's fingerprinted half of Los Angeles by now...and, of course, he's waiting for me to visit again so we can read the next book in the series together. Any book that gets a kid to do THAT deserves a medal!