Dirk Bones and the Mystery of the Haunted House

Dirk Bones and the Mystery of the Haunted House

by Doug Cushman

In the town of Ghostly, where every house is haunted, two ghosts are frightened. Someone is haunting them with mysterious sounds: "Clack, cluckity-cluck bing, blub blub." Or is it "click, cluck-clackity cling, flub flub"? They can't agree on what the sounds are, but they know they're not ghostly noises. What could be more scary?

Good thing ace reporter Dirk Bones is on the case. Dirk writes for the town newspaper, "The Ghostly Tombs," and as he collects the facts for his stories, he also solves mysteries. As Dirk investigates this zany case, he encounters more silly, creepy creatures in a town full of promise for more surprising mysteries to come.

Dirk Bones is a hilarious story about a skeleton detective who goes off to solve a mystery. The subject of the mystery is hysterical and involves a pair of ghosts who are upset that they are being haunted by another ghost. The book contains all of the elements of a great mystery, and though the characters are spooky, the story is definitely more funny than scary.

This clever story has short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts that make it easy to understand. Your child will also get caught up in the adventure and spooky details, which will hold their attention from beginning to end.

My nieces, Emily and Audrey, love when I read this book aloud to them. Emily has started recognizing some of the words, and Audrey just likes to laugh at the many funny situations. Even though the two of them are easily spooked, they feel a sense of accomplishment about getting through a story about werewolves, skeletons, ghosts, and vampires.

--Eve