The Case of the Secret Valentine

A Jigsaw Jones Mystery

The Case of the Secret Valentine

by James Preller

 ~ Reading level: 2.8 ~ Genre: Mystery/Suspense ~

 ~ Chapters: 12 ~ Pages: 76 ~

*SPOLIER ALERT*

The doorbell rings and Mila (Jigsaw's detective partner) answers the door. No one is there but a note has been left. It states that Theodore (aka Jigsaw) has a secret admirer.

Jigsaw (the 2nd grade class detective) hates the idea. He continues to receive these coded valentines that have been created using cut-out letters from magazines. With the help of his detective kit (purchased by his brothers) and Mila, he sets out to solve the mystery.

He does so right before the valentine's day party at school! The culprit, Bobby Solofsky. He wants to be the classroom detective and has created this mystery to prove that Jigsaw can't solve every mystery.

My Opinion

The Jigsaw Jones series has always been my go-to mystery books for students just starting to read chapter books. They are easy to read but the mystery often leaves the student still wondering what happened at the end and trying to add up the clues along beside them.

I have had students create their own "detective journals" to write down the clues as they read the book to see if they can solve it first. This has always been optional but a fun way to encourage participation with the story.