The stolen spoon mystery

the long version

Ten year old Dick is pleased to spend the summer with his cousin Renie. Together they will enjoy exploring the countryside, bicycle riding, and in general, poking about. But what they both really wish for is a mystery, and most of all a haunted house complete with a ghost. When Renie's mother states her plan to restore the old Collins Manor both children are hopeful, particularly when they learn that this mansion was once a chain in the Underground Railway. The strange disappearance of some silver spoons and of a key, as well as the glimpse of a stranger convince the children that they have uncovered their ghost. Enthusiastically, they pursue their mystery and uncover, not a ghost, but a very real thief. Although the story is basically mechanical, Dick and Renie are appealing enough children and the pre-teen-age reader will, at least for the hour or so it should take to read this book, share their enthusiasm for the "mystery". [Kirkus Reviews] Constable Hall, which inspired the setting for The Stolen Spoon Mystery, is an early 19th century manor house just outside Constableville in Lewis County, New York.