Bit simplistic for my own tastes but will no doubt be a hit with young children who enjoy a bit of mystery and adventure. Reminds me a bit of The Three Investigators series or Teen Power Inc - inspires a nostalgic feeling of old school mysteries. It wasn't long enough to really introduce four main characters with any depth but fans of the main series will likely love revisiting the characters. 2 stars for me, 3.5 stars for target audience. ( )

The Mystery of the Missing Money (FREE BOOKS FOR KIDS CHILDREN MIDDLE GRADE MYSTERY ADVENTURE) (The Mystery Series, Short Story Book 1) by Paul Moxham
This book starts out with listing of other works by the author-in series format but each can be read as a stand alone. I am reading them in order so I am familiar with the children in the story.
Love the part about being bored and just relaxing it's summer and the girls are lying back looking at the clouds making shapes out of them. I remember doing that when it was in the 60's also, but from RI, they are in the UK.
Joe and Will bring up the bank robbery and how the money was never seen as they head towards the Blacknesh Castle and learn that the twins are still alive and think that's where the money is. They slowly investigate and know they are on target when they hear their voices.
Interesting how short this story is and it gets the job done with all the clues and investigating..
Can't wait for the next mystery. ( )

4 STARS

Mystery of the Missing Money (the Mystery series) is a short story. It takes place a week after their first adventure in The Mystery of Smugglers Cove. This is a really short story that stands alone but the characters are really introduced and fleshed out in the first book.
The story takes place in the 1950's where the children play outside and explore thier world. Thier is a empty Castle and the four kids explore.
Will tells the story to the three other kids about the bank robbers that were caught in town on his 9th birthday and the money was never found.
While the children go back in the castle to look for a braclet one of the girls lost. They find the two escaped prisoners who came back to retrieve thier stolen money.
I liked the story and would like to read more longer stories in the series.
This one was really short one that I got free on Smashwords.
I will read more books by Paul Moxham in the future. This was an adventure with lots of action for a short story.
Published: May 14, 2012 ISBN: 9781476323237 ( )

This short story is part of a series written by the author on the adventures of 4 children, who because of their quick thinking and resourcefulness (in this book) go on to unravel the mystery of the stolen money and capture notorious felons while facing a rocky adventure.

The writing style of the author is simple and compact. The story moves fast, though there were places where I personally felt that a bit more detail and a smoother flow would have made is pleasant. The idea of the preface was nice but a little more history about the children, woven into the narrative, would have been ideal for a reader like me who is not familiar with the earlier books in the series.

I liked it, though I wouldn’t say I was hooked. I am an Enid Blyton fan and I may have been a bit biased while reading this book. The story reminded me too much of one of her books and I kept making comparisons between the two. Nevertheless, it is a good attempt by the author and children and adults will surely delight reading it.

{I received this book as part of a LibraryThing giveaway, in exchange for a review} ( )

Just a short story narrating the adventures of four children. We get very little information about our "heroes" apart from names anche the fact that three of them are siblings. Their parents don't ever appear and the childrens adventures acquire a fantastic halo as if they weren't real. Immediately the thought goes to the Hardy Boys, The three investigators or Nancy Drew but any comparison would be unfair. They're just short stories but they appear as rough sketches, even childen and teens want detail about their heroes and bneed to identify emotionally. ( )