Review of Kyle & Corey and the Game Store Mystery by Joe Stephens

 

It's a new middle grade/YA series for all of us to enjoy! And I did enjoy this one a lot. Read on for my full review and an excerpt from this fun mystery story. Let the author know your thoughts in the comments as you follow the tour. Best of luck in the giveaway!

Kyle & Corey Holley (15 and 12) live in Fairly Springs, a small southern beach town. Kyle is a budding engineer; Corey is impetuous, funny and sports-crazy. Like most brothers, they fight often, but they also solve crimes—like the rash of recent robberies around town. When Kyle and Corey investigate, they learn that in each robbery, the thieves stole a high-end desktop computer. Why? What are they looking for? And how soon till they find it? Other complications include Corey's wheelchair-bound math tutor, Kyle’s after-school job in a local game store and a revolutionary new video game launching soon.

Kyle and Corey: Brothers. Best Friends. Detectives. They don't go looking for trouble; it has them on speed dial!

Read an excerpt:

That night at dinner, sitting at their comfortable round oak dining table at home, Mrs. Holley said to Corey, “She thinks you’re a pathological liar.”

“He is a pathological liar,” Kyle said, helping himself to more mashed potatoes and pouring a generous helping of brown gravy over them.

Corey, sitting across the table from him, glared over his plate of sliced roast beef, steamed broccoli, and a smaller helping of mashed potatoes. “Liar is a strong word. I know the difference between truth and a lie, you turd.”

“Corey!” his mother said in warning.

“Well, I do. I only lied at the end a little, when I said the whole thing was a lie.”

“I know,” Mrs. Holley said. “Ms. Morrison hasn’t lived here long enough to know what happened this summer.”

“That’s why I did it. If she’d thought it was really true, she’d have asked all kinds of questions and probably made me write a whole other paper. She’s that type.”

Mrs. Holley looked affectionately at her younger son. Corey had a knack for picking out the essential personality traits in everyone he met, almost instantly. He knew things about people after a ten-minute conversation that took therapists months to root out.

Her husband Donald was proud of Kyle for his math and science abilities, his kind and forgiving nature, his loyalty to friends and his gift for taking raw materials and turning them into something new and unexpected. He was proud of Corey for his people smarts, his vivid personality, and his natural ability as an athlete. “I wouldn’t trade either of ‘em for a million bucks,” he told his wife often, and she always answered, “Wait till someone makes you an offer.”

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**My thoughts**

It's been a while since I read a middle grade/YA mystery novel. Even though this is a lot more modern because it deals with gaming and technology, it did take me back to my childhood when I was reading Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. 

These two brothers apparently have a knack for solving mysteries that tend to stump the police and other adults. In fact, in this story, it's their second go-round. So I admit that I was looking for the first book in the series, though this is actually the first book. We get an overview of the first mystery that they solved and I would love to see that fleshed out in its own book some day. Maybe a prequel then? That's the one that sets up their reputation. And this mystery is the one that cements their status.

People are getting robbed in this normally sleep little town, and they all seem to be big ticket items like desktop gaming computers. There's also something fishy going on at the new gaming store that opened up in the past several months. And the brothers are determined to get to the bottom of both of these mysteries.

I admit I had a lot of it figured out pretty quickly, but there were a couple little twists thrown in that kept it entertaining. We also get a good look at the boys' normal lives, between the gaming and the sports and interactions at school, which helps them seem quite realistic and relatable. I felt like I went to school with them. 

They make a lot of new friends during this adventurous investigation, and I feel like these other people, including Matthew and the twins, are going to play bigger roles in future cases that may pop up.

Overall, it was quite an entertaining mystery read that I think older kids and teens are going to enjoy. I know I am looking forward to future installments!

Thank you to Goddess Fish and the author for providing me with a requested review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

About the author:

JOE STEPHENS has been a fan of boys’ adventure books all his life, and in this, his first series book, he’s created two boys as memorable as Frank and Joe Hardy. He has a background in education and has also visited more than thirty countries while pursuing his passion for scuba diving. He lives in Georgetown with his growing family and three thoroughly spoiled cats.

Joe Stephens will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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