Book Review: COLD CASE

COLD CASE
By Julia Platt Leonard
2011
281 Pages


From Inside Cover:
Thirteen-year -old Oz Keiller think he has a pretty normal life.
Until he discovers a dead body in his family's Santa Fe restaurant.
His older brother is the prime suspect in the murder, and Oz is shocked to learn the crime is tied to his dead father-a man Oz now finds out was accused of stealing nuclear secrets.
Desperate to clear his brother's name, Oz and his best friend, Rusty, embark on a perilous mission to uncover the real killer. It's a quest that will put his life in danger and challenge everything he thought he knew about his family.
And the answers he unearths may be much closer to home than he could have imagined.
My thoughts:
Finding a dead body in a walk in freezer is not a good way to start the day. But things go from bad to worse when Oz's big brother and head chef is accused of murder and thrown in jail. Suddenly it's up to Oz to get to the bottom of the crime and fast because police are starting to look at him as a possible accomplice.
Cold Case is a sharp, engaging, detective mystery perfect for middle school readers, as well as older readers. Main character Oz feels like the real deal as he struggles with a complicated family history, frustrations with his older brother and fear that his mom may lose their family business. He was easy to root for as the story took some unexpected twists and turns as the plot thickened and the list of suspects grew.
I enjoyed that the story was from Oz's point of view but the other characters were also interesting-his best friend Rusty added a touch of humor and excitement to the story.
I would definitely follow Oz on another adventure if he ever stumbles upon a dead body again!
For some fun facts about Cold Case and Oz visit Julia Platt Leonard's blog. I also discovered a fun interview Julia did with Hope's Bookshelf. Go check it out.
I would like to thank author Julia Platt Leonard for giving me the opportunity to read and review Cold Case. I will be donating this book to my local Middle School Library where I have no doubt kids will enjoy it!