A Matter of Justice

by Steve Alcorn

Dani Deucer is a precocious twelve-year-old girl who wants to be a detective. She and her sister Stephanie are spending the summer in Three Rivers, California when Dani meets hobo Mott Simon. At first Dani is afraid of Mott because he's different - he spends most of his time digging up the town's flowerbeds! But when Mott is accused of murder Dani sets out to prove that sometimes first impressions can be wrong.

164 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Steve Alcorn is the author of a wide range of fiction and nonfiction works. His novels include the mystery A Matter of Justice, the historical novel Everything In Its Path, and the romance Ring of Diamonds (under the pseudonym Sharon Stevens). His best-selling history of the Imagineers who built Epcot, Building a Better Mouse, was co-written with author David Green.

During the past decade Steve has helped more than 30,000 students turn their story ideas into reality, and many of his students have published novels they developed in his classes, taught through http://writingacademy.com

When he isn't writing and teaching, Steve is the CEO of Alcorn McBride Inc., a leading theme park design company.

Reviews

[Heidi Lynn]

A good book to read while taking Alcorn's fiction class.

[Mark Wm Smith]

Kid Detective Solves Murder

Dani Deucer has aspirations to be a detective like Nancy Drew. She also doesn't like weirdos. This book is about Dani's adventures in learning how to solve crimes as we all as understand people better. I enjoyed the portrayal of an adolescent full of curiosity and a desire for things to be made right in the world. It's good to go back in time like that.

The mystery element was fair and well-planned, though not exceptional. The story also does a good job of showing how people can be different without being bad as shown through Dani's interactions with the characters. Some passages meant to portray childhood drug on longer than I would have liked.

This is a great book for young readers interested in mystery. Reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird.

Steve Alcorn presents an important aspect of growing up in this adolescent adventure story. His use of mystery is solid if not remarkable. A good read.

[Kathy]

Great, enthralling read

Steve Alcorn does a phenomenal job telling this Dani Deucer detective story with excellent characters , great descriptors of the outdoors, and a wonderful and satisfying story that seamlessly ties into the plot. I can't wait to read more of Alcorn' s Dani Deucer series!