Dunc and the Scam Artists

Culpepper Adventures #11

by Gary Paulsen

After winning a contest, Dunc and Amos are off to a ski vacation in Vail, Colorado, where they will make their mark in more ways than one. By the author of Canyons. Original.

Genres: Mystery

67 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Reviews

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Detective stories gradually became the focus of Gary Paulsen's Culpepper Adventures in the books leading up to Dunc and the Scam Artists. The action usually starts when Dunc Culpepper gets a vague hunch that something nefarious is going on in the town where he and his best friend Amos Binder live, and Dunc decides they need to stop it. In this book, Dunc's suspicions flare up when he and Amos are sent to deliver sensitive documents from Dunc's father to an old woman supposedly living alone. Instead of Mrs. Betsy Dell answering the door, a big, gruff man takes the papers and slams the door in Dunc's face. Who is he? Is Mrs. Dell in trouble? Ignoring Amos's pleas that they not get involved, Dunc launches an investigation.

A pattern of recent reports indicates a local con artist is targeting the elderly, convincing them he's a family member and then bilking them of their money. Dunc is convinced Mrs. Dell is the latest victim. He and Amos contact Mrs. Dell and volunteer to do yard work at her house, then secretly search the premises for evidence of a con artist's malfeasance. Dunc finds a box filled with stolen cash, but will he and Amos be caught by the criminals before they can alert the authorities? Will the boys survive to see their next case?

Dunc and the Scam Artists is better than average for this series. Parts of the plot are convoluted or seem too improbable to be believed, but the story never totally goes off the rails, and an attempt is made at a plot twist. I'm not sure it will fool many readers, but at least it's attempted. I give Dunc and the Scam Artists one and a half stars, and almost could have rounded up to two. It's not as good as Dunc and the Flaming Ghost, but it's only a level or two below.