When I was a kid, I read this book called The Case of the Vanishing Villain about this girl, Flee Jay, and her perfect genius sister, Clarice, who solved a mystery. I really identified with Clarice, even though Flee Jay was the protagonist of the story and Clarice was supposed to be kind of annoying. I started carrying a big black purse and notebooks just like Clarice. I even kind of looked like her.
Many years later, I was introduced to the wonders of LibraryThing and found out that there were two more books written about Flee Jay and Clarice, and so I just had to track them down. I finally have, and I was not disappointed.
The girls are off to solve another mystery, this time when their aunt takes them for a vacation at Magic Lake. Magic Lake has a legendary mystery, that of Old Man Merkin who lives like a hermit on the island in the middle of the lake, and has done so for 40 years since the death of his wife and kidnapping of his young daughter. Clarice is told she looks just like the missing daughter, so of course the girls must investigate! The mystery is appropriately complicated, not too much that it's unrealistic, but not so simple that the ending can be seen a mile away. The characters are fun and interesting and the two sisters have a development in their sibling relationship. I'm really looking forward to finishing out this series! ( )