It's a Mystery

I have to be honest, mystery is not my preferred genre.  I get stressed out whenever I read a mystery.  I'm not the kind of person who tries to guess the ending or figure it out as I read so I feel all the pressure and suspense of the moment.  That being said Joan Lowery Nixon's The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore was a nice change of pace for me.

Christina Lattimore is from a wealthy Houston family.  After a fight with her grandmother, the family matriarch and holder of the family fortune, Christina is kidnapped.  But the kidnapping seems a bit off.  Something is not quite right, and that feeling only continues throughout the book.  I would love to say more but I really can't without spoiling the ending.  Is Christina found?  Are the kidnappers brought to justice?  Is everything as it seems?

While mystery will never be my favorite genre, I have to admit I liked the excitement and suspense of this book.  I think it helped that the book wasn't overly long.  At just under 200 pages you could read it in one sitting, say on a rainy Saturday, so you can see how everything works out.  The reading team at my school has discussed doing a mystery as one of the anchor books for this coming school year.  I think this book may be a great anchor book.  It has enough appeal for all types of students and I think they would be more willing to engage in a book as a class when they want to figure out what happens.  

Solving the mystery...that's kids stuff.