Mystery Solvers Series by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson

I enjoyed reading the Mysteries in Our National Parks series by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane Ferguson.  I really wanted to read additional books by the authors, so I looked to see if they had written anything else that might appeal to me.  I found the Mystery Solvers series from the late 1990s.

1.  Mystery of the Spooky Shadow, 1996
2.  Mystery of the Vanishing Creatures, 1997
3.  Mystery of the Haunted Silver Mine, 1997
4.  Mystery of the Fire in the Sky, 1997

I think I have the books in the right order. Goodreads has the books listed in the wrong order.

Caitlin Marsh and her mother, April, live near Three Peaks, Colorado, in a trailer that is located on Mr. Giles' ranch.  April Marsh earns a living by knitting ski caps, which are sold in the gift shops of nearby ski resorts.

Caitlin is in the third grade, and she really likes Joe Daniel Giles, who is in the sixth grade. Joe Daniel typically ignores her.  Caitlin, Joe Daniel, and several other students are members of the Three Peaks Science Club. The club sponsor, Mr. Mahoney, takes the students on field trips.

These books are for ages six through nine. The stories run around 60 pages.  I don't usually read books for younger children such as these, but I made an exception since I enjoyed the Mysteries in Our National Parks series so much.

In Mystery of the Spooky Shadow, Caitlin and her friends discover a valuable Native American artifact while on a field trip in the nearby national park.  They mark the location and are shocked later when they are told that the artifact has vanished.  One of the students is under suspicion for the theft, but Caitlin is certain that he is not guilty.

In Mystery of the Vanishing Creatures, the Three Peaks Science Club has created a display of reptiles and insects in the library. The students are devastated when the creatures begin disappearing.  Each time a creature vanishes, an ominous note is left behind mentioning something about the creature dying.  Caitlin is determined to solve the mystery.

In Mystery of the Haunted Silver Mine, the science club takes a field trip into the deserted silver mine.  Caitlin and Lily decide to play a trick on another student who is always playing jokes, so they run ahead in the tunnel and hide.  Their prank backfires when they become lost and end up in a dangerous situation.



In Mystery of the Fire in the Sky, Caitlin and her new friend, Paige, are standing on the side of a mountain when they see a bright flash of light in the sky.  They tell the adults, but nobody will believe them.  Finally, the girls find that some of the other children also saw the light.  Mr. Mahoney takes the science club on a field trip so that they can search for evidence of what happened.

The mysteries in all four books are extremely easy to solve.  Even though I could guess the solution in each case, I still found the books to be suspenseful.

I enjoyed reading these books.  My favorite is probably Mystery of the Haunted Silver Mine.