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A review by finesilkflower
The Mystery at Claudia's House by Ann M. Martin
3.0
Janine is acting strange.
Claudia has never known Janine to lie, so when she catches her in obvious lies and evasions, she begins to worry. Is Janine in trouble? Claudia is also concerned when she begins to feel as though someone is going through her stuff. Things aren't where she left them. What is 'someone' looking for and who is it? Using her top-secret spy tailing techniques, Claudia learns that Janine has a boyfriend, a handsome white nerd named Jerry. Janine has been secretly 'borrowing' clothes from fashionable Claudia and lying about her whereabouts to avoid telling her family about her personal business.
This is such a non-mystery that the author has trouble sustaining it for the length of the book. It would have been better if there had been a more substantial red herring (maybe if Janine was working on a top-secret project and Claudia was reading a pulp mystery that puts thoughts of espionage into her head).
Read as a kid: Yes and it was actually one of my favorites. As a child I did not care that the solution to the mystery was obvious. I especially liked the scene of Claudia giving Janine a makeover. Tan France-like, she is sensitive to what types of clothes make Janine feel confident and comfortable, and pulls together an outfit from her own closet that is an elevated version of Janine's typical look. That idea stayed with me, of doing a subtle makeover by taking your usual style and just finding versions of the same things you like to wear, but a little nicer, a little more a nudge in the direction you want to go. And the idea of reusing old elements in a new way to create a different look. I still think of it every time I try to shake up my style.
Claudia has never known Janine to lie, so when she catches her in obvious lies and evasions, she begins to worry. Is Janine in trouble? Claudia is also concerned when she begins to feel as though someone is going through her stuff. Things aren't where she left them. What is 'someone' looking for and who is it? Using her top-secret spy tailing techniques, Claudia learns that Janine has a boyfriend, a handsome white nerd named Jerry. Janine has been secretly 'borrowing' clothes from fashionable Claudia and lying about her whereabouts to avoid telling her family about her personal business.
This is such a non-mystery that the author has trouble sustaining it for the length of the book. It would have been better if there had been a more substantial red herring (maybe if Janine was working on a top-secret project and Claudia was reading a pulp mystery that puts thoughts of espionage into her head).
Read as a kid: Yes and it was actually one of my favorites. As a child I did not care that the solution to the mystery was obvious. I especially liked the scene of Claudia giving Janine a makeover. Tan France-like, she is sensitive to what types of clothes make Janine feel confident and comfortable, and pulls together an outfit from her own closet that is an elevated version of Janine's typical look. That idea stayed with me, of doing a subtle makeover by taking your usual style and just finding versions of the same things you like to wear, but a little nicer, a little more a nudge in the direction you want to go. And the idea of reusing old elements in a new way to create a different look. I still think of it every time I try to shake up my style.