The Diamond Mistake Mystery - Sylvia McNicoll - The Great Mistake Mysteries Book 4

The Diamond Mistake Mystery 
The Great Mistake Mysteries Book 4
Sylvia McNicoll
Dundurn Press
ISBN 9781459744936
eISBN 9781459744943
ASIN B07HNBM9MC

My children and I were terribly excited when we found out that this series was being extended. We loved the stories in the original trilogy. And My son and I have read them together a couple of times. And even though there was a wait for it, this fourth book was well worth the wait. It is an excellent addition to the stories of Stephen Nobel and Renée Kobai. Reading this book was like visiting with old friends that you had not seen in a while. But things went back to exactly how they were before. 

In a previous review of volume 1: The Best Mistake Mystery I stated that in some ways this book reads like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon but written for kids. And after reading the whole trilogy, and now this fourth volume I can state that even more emphatically. Stephen counts mistakes each day, and the chapters of the books are days. It is hard to believe that all the action in this book took place over three days.

Day 1 - 11 Mistakes
Day 2 - 10 Mistakes
Day 3 - 10 Mistakes

Which is the same numbers as books, The Snake Mistake Mystery, but less than books one and two. In this story Stephen Nobel and Renée Kobai are both still working for Stephen's fathers pet walking business, the Noble Dog Walking Agency. But in this story they face their biggest challenge yet, they have committed to walking their new neighbour, Pearl Lebel, to school she is in kindergarten and is Stephen’s reading buddy at school. Renée is very excited about this new role, but Stephen is very leery. And right from the get go things go sideways. 

Pearl’s parents are jewellers and are planning on exhibiting a rare and famous pink diamond. But Pearl has informed Stephen and Renée that she has lost it. She does not want to get into trouble, and against his better judgement Stephen agrees not to tell her parents right away. And this Stephen and Renée are on the case again. Trying to track back the events and travels of the last few days. But they are unaware that pearl’s recollection of events might not be entirely accurate. 

In this story we have a precocious little girl. An interrupted sleep over. A missing diamond, dogs to walk and a whole lot more. It is a great read and wonderful addition to the Best Mistake Mysteries, of which our family hopes there will be many many more! A great read to read to young readers, or have middle grade readers read with or to you. It receives a top endorsement from our family.  We recommend this book, and this whole series. We sincerely hope there will be more to read soon. This book is entertaining for readers of all ages. (And I am not even a pet guy.)

Books by Sylvia McNicoll:
Blueberries and Whipped Cream - 1988
Jump Start - 1989
The Tiger Catcher's Kid - 1989
Project Disaster - 1990
More than Money - 1990
Facing the Enemy - 1992
Bringing Up Beauty - 1994
The Big Race - 1996
Walking a Thin Line - 1997
Double Dribble - 1999
Smoky and the Gorilla - 1999
Grave Secrets - 1999
Caught in a Lie - 2000
A Different Kind of Beauty - 2004
Beauty Returns - 2006
Last Chance For Paris - 2008
Slam Dunk Robot  2007
crush. candy. corpse. - 2012
Dying to Go Viral - 2013
Body Swap - 2018
...

The Great Mistake Mysteries:
The Best Mistake Mystery - 2017
The Artsy Mistake Mystery - 2017
The Snake Mistake Mystery - 2018
The Diamond Mistake Mystery - 2019
...

Books Written as Geena Dare:
Stage School Series:
Dan Clowning Around #5 - 1998
Matt Heartbreak Hero #6 - 1998
Lauren Dating Dreams #7 - 1999
Abbi Secret Stranger #9 - 1999
Jenna Standing Tall #10 - 1999
Dan Double Drama #11 -1999

Book Ghostwritten as Sharon Siamon:
The Spellbound Sleepover 1999

Nonfiction:
Mom and Dad's Guide to Martial Arts 1999

Foreign Editions unavailable in English to date:
Zannas vanskelige valg  2007 (Alpha Wolf)
Zanna - mellom barken og veden 2007 (River of Ice)
Snøras   2008 (Avalanche)
Zanna i fare 2008 (Victim's Impact)
Redningsaksjonen  2009 (The Nine Minute Disaster Zone) 

Author Profile and Interview with Sylvia McNicoll.