• Age: 10 to 14
• Grade: 5 to 9
• Reading age: 10 to 14

Jack Lime, a hard-boiled, amateur private eye, sees his role at Iona High in simple terms. “What I do is fix problems for people who need their problems fixed.” Of course, fixing his fellow students' problems is not always an easy job, especially when they involve some of the most notorious characters in the high school. In this follow-up to the popular The Adventures of Jack Lime, he investigates three new cases (missing: a painting, a comic book and a quarterback), and is up against thugs, smart alecks, heroes and, most annoying of all, a wisecracking girl reporter. Though the cases can each stand on their own, they build progressively through time, delving deeper into what's really going on at Iona High, as alliances appear to shift and truths get revealed. That is, until the final page of the book, when one big truth is left hanging.

With wit and terrific pacing, author James Leck gives his adolescent readers exactly what they want in this highly entertaining book: fast-moving scenes, spot-on teenage attitudes and cleverly plotted intrigue. With intelligence, sarcasm and his own style of offbeat humor, Jack chronicles his gumshoe adventures like a pro, and keeps the pages flying. This would be an ideal choice for a language arts lesson about the concept of literary genres in general or detective fiction specifically, as the full gamut of characteristics and motifs are depicted here perfectly.

James Leck was born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in 1973. He is a high school teacher who has spent a lot of time around teenagers, using their sardonic and offbeat voices in his writing. He is author of The Adventures of Jack Lime and After Dark.

James Leck's profile page

• Winner, Best Books of the Year for Children and Young Adults, Bank Street Children's Book Committee
• Short-listed, John Spray Mystery Award , Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards
• Short-listed, Diamond Willow Award, The Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award
• Winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre

A winning formula, replete with wince-worthy contretemps reported in properly poker-faced prose.—Kirkus Reviews