Detectives' Row is full of talented investigators, but Toby Montrose isn't one of them. He's only an assistant at his uncle's detective agency, and he's not sure he's even very good at that. Toby's friend Ivy is the best sleuth around -- or at least she thinks so. They both see their chance to prove themselves when the famed Hugh Abernathy announces a contest to choose the World's Greatest Detective. But when what was supposed to be a game turns into...

"Twelve-year-old Colophon Letterford has a serious mystery on her hands. Will she discover the link between her family's literary legacy and Shakespeare's tomb before it's too late?"--

Mr. Quisling is definitely up to something mysterious, and Emily and James are on high alert. First, there's the coded note he drops at a book event. Then Emily and James uncover a trail of encrypted messages in books by Mark Twain hidden through Book Scavenger. What is most suspicious is that each hidden book triggers an arson.

Hank the Cowdog uses his all of his sleuthing skills as head of ranch security when a major theft occurs on the ranch and Miss Beulah is kidnapped.