The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case

The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case
By Alexander McCall Smith
Random House, 2012. 73 pgs. Intermediate.

At last, the chief detective and sole proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency shows up in a book for little dudes. There is a thief at Precious' school. One of her classmates has a piece of cake go missing. Then sugary buns are taken from the school lunchroom and a large piece of bread and strawberry jam disappears. Soon suspicion settles on Poloko, a young man "of traditional build" (largeish) who carries sweets around in his pocket and who has sticky hands. Precious doesn't believe Poloko is guilt, but all the other kids shun him and demand he be punished. How Precious discovers the real culprits and sets herself on the path to becoming a grown-up detective is the refrain of this delightful story. An excellent cross-cultural story for beginning chapter book readers.

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