Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage

 

Turnage, S. (2012). Three Times lucky. Dial Books for Young Readers. 

Mysteries abound in Sheila Turnage’s Three Times Lucky, the start of the Mo and Dale’s Mystery Series. With a hurricane on the way, Moses “Mo” Lobeau, and her best friend, Dale race to solve mysteries that are popping up like a game of whack-a-mole. Prior to the start of the story, Mo questions who and where her biological parents are, and how it came to be that they lost her. Then, a murder takes place shortly after a detective arrives in town, and her parental figures go missing quickly after. It’s a race against time and a mystery who to trust, and Mo spends the majority of the story with more questions than answers. 

The themes of this story include community, family, and one’s sense of self. Like many mystery book protagonists, Mo has a mystery all her own that she’s looking to solve, creating tension in the plot even before the murder of a local man comes to light. It’s the question of who her “upstream mother” is that drives Mo’s character development, while the mystery of who killed Mr. Jesse drives the plot. While at the beginning of this story, Mo’s sense of identity is tied tightly to her biological parentage, by the end, she has learned to let go of this question and grown to accept the family that she has in Miss Lana and the Colonel. 

The plot is action-packed, with mysteries appearing one after the other and piling up into many, many questions that leave the audience wondering until the resolution. Mo herself is upbeat and spunky, with an intensely independent streak. Mo and Dale quickly form a detective agency, and pursue the mystery for themselves, though there is a professional detective already on the case. 

Set in North Carolina, which is where the author was born and raised, this book is imbued with a certain southern charm. The small town where the story takes place is the sort where everyone knows everyone, reminding this reader of the hit Disney Channel Animated TV show, Gravity Falls. Parents should note that one character is a violent and abusive drunk, though the majority of this behavior takes place off screen. This book works best for kids ages 10-13.