I thought Teddy was an animal to begin with. Having been a volunteer at the Phoenix Zoo for the koala exhibit, I was all set to read the book. Phew, the pre-teeners, what they try to pull off. For science week/month this year, Chandler, AZ had a small display to solve a fictional crime with some evidence and lab experts all in one tent. This chase too to solve the mystery, keeps whats in the domain of our little solver - some sleuthing, guessing, elimination, the real brainy things accessible and the lab expert kind of stuff in the hands of characters out of scope. This chiaroscuro of keeping just the things needed to solve the problem in focus makes the young readers easily fall into the game of playing detective.