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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

While 12-year-old Bea’s parents are attending an out-of-town conference, Bea flies from New Jersey to Paris to stay for three weeks with an aunt who is too busy with work to show her around the city. One morning, Bea finds a cryptic letter addressed to her. She spends the day helping her grandmother, Mamie, at her failing antique shop. There, she meets her cousin, Céline, who is one year older but vastly more sophisticated and preoccupied with her friends. When Mamie discovers that a family treasure, a portrait painting by Matisse, has been stolen from the shop, Bea links the crime to the clues in her puzzling letter. Soon, Bea and Céline follow the clues to solve the mystery. Young readers will sympathize with Bea and her convincingly tween-age dilemmas, but only devoted cryptography fans will attempt to decode the clues delivered to her. Still, readers who know a little French will enjoy the occasional use of common phrases, which are explained within the text. A relatively quiet mystery story with a surprising solution.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

While visiting family in Paris, a 12-year-old from New Jersey embarks on a treasure hunt to find her grandmother’s missing Matisse—and help save her antiques shop. Red-haired mathlete Bea’s parents have sent her to stay with Aunt Juliette, a busy journalist, but Bea is stuck at home with little to do, until someone slips a mysterious note containing a riddle under their apartment door. Methodical Bea and her spontaneous 13-year-old cousin, Céline, work together to solve the clues, hoping they’ll lead to the family’s treasured Matisse sketch, which has gone missing from their grandmother Mamie’s shop, the House of Found Objects. The precious artwork was collateral for the loan Mamie needed to carry out much-needed repairs; without it, the landlord could force her out. As the girls visit Parisian landmarks, they become close, discuss why their dads (who are brothers) are feuding, and break rules in the name of saving Mamie’s shop. Through their adventures, Bea gains the courage to reveal a truth to her parents that she’d been covering up out of fear of disappointing them and uncertainty over what she really wanted. The metamorphosis of the cousins’ relationship, which starts off prickly and softens into mutual respect and affection, is realistic and relatable, and the explanation behind the mysterious notes is a pleasant surprise. The family is cued white. Codebreakers and mystery fans will want to read this fun adventure, tout de suite.(Mystery. 9-13) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.