The Midnight Elf Mystery

Someone is fixing toys at midnight.

Penhallow's Toy Hospital is closing on Christmas Eve, and twenty-four broken toys will go home unmended. Then, at two minutes to midnight, eleven-year-old Felix Garza sees a lamp come on in the dark workshop below his window, and a small figure in a tall pointed hat bent over the bench. By morning a wind-up penguin waddles again, and a note in curly capital letters says: ONE DOWN, TWENTY-THREE TO GO.

With his scientist best friend Ada, his little sister Bea (who is certain it is a real elf) and one very guilty-looking cat, Felix sets out to find the Midnight Elf. There are footprints in the snow, a hummed waltz, a curly letter E, and an old photograph of five children in pointed hats. Every clue is in plain sight. Can you solve it before Felix does?

• 14 short chapters, each ending on a hook
• A fair-play mystery: every clue the solution needs is in the story
• Warm, funny and never scary, with a black-and-white illustration for every chapter
• A "Stop, detective!" challenge before the big reveal
• At the back: a clue review, talk-about-it questions for families and classrooms, and a kindness challenge

A cozy Christmas read about friendship, second chances and doing good in secret, for readers ages 8 to 12.