The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle by Taryn Souders

 

Last weekend, I read The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle by Taryn Souders. This mystery is about Grady Judd, a boy who lives in the small town of Gifton, Georgia, and inherits a sampler from the town eccentric, Eudora "Kooky" Klinch, after she passes away and includes him in her will. The first night that Grady and his dad are in possession of the sampler, someone tries to break into their home. Grady's dad has been struggling to make ends meet ever since Grady's mama died, so he asks Grady the next day to take the sampler to the Hairless Monkey to pawn it, but Grady is reluctant because the note left with it explained that it's a treasure map and he wants to save his family from having to move. Grady hides the sampler in his ammo box, puts his mama's Civil War replica in the original frame, and brings it to the Hairless Monkey instead. With help from his friends, Thad and Clemmie, and the town dog, Ophelia, he works on solving the riddles from the sampler to find the treasure. When the Hairless Monkey is burglarized overnight and its co-owner, Arliss McGinter, ends up dead after a confrontation with the intruder, Grady realizes that his life might be at stake as he continues his search for the treasure.

Reading this book was so exciting for me because it combined a treasure hunt with a murder mystery. It was suspenseful and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the reveal of who was responsible for Arliss's murder because they wanted the treasure map so badly. There were several suspicious characters, but they felt like red herrings and I was genuinely surprised by who actually did it. I was also rooting hard for Grady to find the treasure because I didn't want him to have to move away from his friends. The book didn't end exactly how I expected, but it was still super satisfying. All of the characters had unique personalities and I loved the small town setting because everyone knows everyone. It seemed like it would be hard to keep a secret like murder for very long. Additionally, I liked how the story incorporated the real-life history of the War of Jenkins's Ear, which was a lesser known conflict between the British and the Spanish that happened before the American Revolution. I had never heard of it before, so I was fascinated reading the section about it after the last chapter. The back matter includes a list for further reading, as well. I recommend The Mystery of the Radcliffe Riddle to anyone who enjoys a mystery with both treasure and murder.