Alibi

Christine is very excited to be staying with her Great Aunt Maude for a few weeks of the summer holidays—Aunt Maude may be an older woman, but she’s still a lot of fun! 

Maude runs an antique shop in the historic town of Witcombe, and has recently started running a ‘ghost walk’ for tourists, leading them through the town’s interesting ghost stories and legends. Towards the end of the tour, the group learns that a robbery has been committed in a nearby town, the latest in a worrying string of crimes being committed in the area. Christine notices that the boy who gave them the news seemed to appear out of nowhere, and when no one else is looking he sneaks into the abandoned Greeley House. Christine finds this very suspicious and decides to investigate.

Soon enough, Christine discovers that the boy—whose name is Simon—is secretly sleeping in Greeley House as he doesn’t have anywhere else to live while he saves for college. Disheartened, Christine is about ready to give up her robbery investigation—until the thief arrives in Witcombe and robs customers of her aunt’s store! 

Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, Christine follows some clues and makes a shocking discovery—her prime suspects are two old, identical twins, the Spence sisters. Working together with Simon and Aunt Maude, Christine manages to thwart the sisters’ plans and discover their secret: they are actually identical triplets, and the third sister was committing the crimes while the other two established alibis! Very happy to have solved the mystery and stopped the robberies, Christine settles in to enjoy the rest of her holiday with Aunt Maude and Simon.

Alibi is an interesting story with a solid mystery and an engaging setting. Christine learns not to judge situations—and people—by their covers, and she and Aunt Maude have a fun dynamic. This dyslexia-friendly book offers a high interest middle grade story for reluctant or struggling readers.

tourism, robberies, mystery, investigation, vacation, alibi, crime

1. Christine mentions that Aunt Maude taught her to play poker with real money (p. 2), Simon Greeley was said to be in a ‘drunken stupor’ (p. 16). 2. Aunt Maude is drinking a Harvey Wallbanger at dinner (p. 63). 3. Romance: Christine says that Simon is ‘gorgeous’ at p. 17 and 31, but no romantic relationship occurs between them. 4. Aunt Maude leads a ‘ghost walk’ at the beginning of the book, talking about the different legends and ghost stories of the town, but this is purely a tourist attraction.