Cold Case
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
A boy makes a terrible discovery and must clear his family’s name in this action-packed thriller.
When thirteen-year-old Oz Keiller stumbles upon a dead body, his life is thrown into a tailspin. His older brother is the prime suspect in the murder, and Oz soon learns that the crime may be tied to the death of his father years earlier—a father who was accused of selling nuclear secrets to rogue governments.
The fate—and livelihood—of his family is hanging by a thread, and it’s up to Oz to try and crack the case, with the help of his best friend, Rusty. It’s a quest that has more twists and turns than the dusty roads of New Mexico—and the answer may be closer to home than Oz ever could have imagined.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The debut of former journalist and chef Leonard is an entertaining if straightforward mystery that nicely integrates espionage and the author's culinary background into a traditional murder investigation. Thirteen-year-old Oz works in the family restaurant, helping his older brother, Dave, and mother, and hoping to become a chef himself one day. When Oz opens the restaurant one Saturday to find a dead journalist in the kitchen, his life is turned upside down. Dave is soon being questioned in the murder, and Oz discovers that their late father was suspected of espionage while working at Los Alamos. As Oz and his rebellious, overcaffeinated friend, Rusty, look into the case, they discover a potential conspiracy dating back years. Readers won't be surprised to learn that some of the adults that the kids trust turn out to be more than they seem, and the occasional red herring doesn't do much to muddy the waters. Still, Leonard's firsthand chef experience shows in the attention to detail in the kitchen scenes, and Oz's obsessions with both cooking and clearing his brother's name help carry the novel. Ages 8 12.
