December 26th 2018 by Orchard Books
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus
Mac is calmly playing mini golf when the queen of England phones him yet again for help. She is afraid that someone will steal the crown jewels, so wants Mac on the case. He ends up in her castle in Scotland, where all manner of things go wrong, including the jewels being taken from a locked room. That's a new and exciting type of mystery for Mac, who has to use all of his skills to solve it.
Strengths: This is just the right level of 6th and early 7th grade goofy (but would be good for younger students, too), and the formatting is really brilliant. The font is sanserif, there are better-than-average spaces between lines, and the pictures are inserted into the text where they make the most sense. For students with reading problems, this is the best book I have seen yet. I love that the author made up all of these stories years ago.
Weaknesses: The mystery is a tad weaker than the first book, but I applaud the desire to construct a locked room mystery. I now what it was! It reminded of Kin Platt's Big Max: the World's Greatest Detective (1965).
What I really think: Do enjoy this series, but wish it weren't paper over board. Definitely purchasing, and I wish there were a Time Travel Mart in my own neighborhood. Good for you, Mr. Barnett. Diversifying. And yes, I have a time travel outfit, although I still need a wool shawl and a pair of boots without zippers. (If anyone gets close enough to my skirt to see the zipper, I figure I have bigger problems!)
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