Partners in Crime

Partners in Crime (Sleuth or Dare, 1) by Kim Harrington, May 1, 2012. 179 pages. Published by Scholastic.  Source: Publisher.

Whodunit?
When best friends Darcy and Norah have to create a fake business for a school assignment, they come up with a great idea: a detective agency! Darcy loves mysteries, and Norah likes helping people, so it's a perfect fit.
But then their pretend agency gets a real case. Someone is missing, and it's up to Darcy and Norah to take on the search. Unfortunately, there's someone else out there who doesn't want the two detectives stirring up any trouble. . . .
With the help of hidden clues, spy gadgets, and trusted friends, can Darcy and Norah crack the case in time?

First Sentence:

The killer held his breath and huddled in the back of the darkened closet, hoping not to be found.

A middle grade mystery with a charming cover, I had to read it!!

While I do have Kim Harrington's YA debut, Clarity, I have not had chance to read it. But when I saw that she had a fantastic sounding MG mystery coming out I knew that I was going to have to read it. For my first Kim Harrington book it was spectacular and one that I'll definitely be revisiting in the near future.

When I first picked up Partners in Crime I was curious to see how the author was going to get the ball rolling for Norah and Darcy's school project turned official club. I was worried that it would either be thrown in too early or that it would take too long to get to that point, but I felt like Partners in Crime was introduced at just the right point in time in the book.
While the mystery was not all the mysterious to me, I loved what the answer turned out to be and how the girls went about solving it. It was definitely interesting to see how the two girls went about solving their first mystery and that it was one that made them think.

Having never read anything by Kim Harrington I had no idea what to expect with her writing. That being said, I ended up really enjoying my first taste of her writing because she did such a great job with the voice of her characters in her MG. I enjoyed her writing and Partners in Crime so much that I flew through the entire book and a short time. It is also one that I would recommend to those interested in a well written MG mystery that is set in the real world.

Norah and Darcy are definitely one of the things that makes Partners in Crime such a great read. I loved how different they were and how well that two of them worked together.
What I liked most about Norah was that she was rational and the more grounded of the two. She was definitely the one that kept them from going over the top when looking into a case; but she was also willing to go out on a limb.
As for Darcy, I liked that she had a bit of a crazy streak because you never really knew what exactly she was going to do. Darcy definitely kept you on your toes while reading.

What I liked most about Partners in Crime would have to be Norah and Darcy. They were an odd pairing because they were so different from one another, yet that is what made their friendship so exciting to read about because there differences pushed the other out of their comfort zone. While this makes an excellent buddy read, you should definitely check out for all of its excellent qualities.

If there's one bad thing about Partners in Crime it would have to be the length. I devoured this one in like an hour because it was just too good and the characters were great, so I was sad when I finished it so quickly because I could have kept on reading about Norah and Darcy for ages.

Final Verdict: Watch out Nancy, Norah and Darcy are on the case!

Partners in Crime earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.