The Absent Author

A to Z Mysteries #1

by Ron Roy, John Steven Gurney (Illustrator)

A is for author....  Dink writes to his favorite author, mystery writer Wallis Wallace, and invites him to visit Green Lawn. To Dink's amazement, Wallace says he'll come! But when the big day arrives, Wallace is nowhere to be found. The police think he just missed his plane, but Dink suspects foul play. It's up to Dink and his two best friends, Josh and Ruth Rose, to find the famous writer--before it's too late!  


From the Hardcover Library Binding edition.

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Chapter Books, Fiction, Middle Grade, 2nd Grade, Juvenile

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ron Roy has been writing books for children since 1974. He is the author of dozens of books, including the popular A to Z Mysteries®, Calendar Mysteries, and Capital Mysteries. When not working on a new book, Ron likes to teach tricks to his dog Pal, play poker with friends, travel, and read thrilling mystery books.

Reviews

[Swati Tanu · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a children 's book series. Good read !!! Can be recommended to everyone (particularly this book). It is a courageous adventurous tale. The book kept me hooked till the end. :D

A is for author....

Dink writes to his favourite author, mystery writer Wallis Wallace, and invites him to visit Green Lawn. To Dink's amazement, Wallace says he'll come! But when the big day arrives, Wallace is nowhere to be found. The police think he just missed his plane, but Dink suspects foul play.

It's up to Dink and his two best friends, Josh and Ruth Rose, to find the famous writer--before it's too late!

You might like to wander through a few artistic journals — they’re full of sparks and surprises.

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy mother load of childhood memories. These books, along side Cam Jansen, became my childhood. I was known as The Girl Who Loves Mystery Books at my school library. Yep. I was that cool. (Still am).

I am only going to review the first in this series because you guys probably wouldn't want 26 "OMG I LOVED THESE BOOKS" reviews.
And, "A" stands for Awesome so how fitting.

Calling children everywhere. If you want to be like Stella Chen one day, start reading these books because you will not regret it.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are so fun! My 9 year old and I are listening to this as audio books in the car every day. We are constantly running around together on errands or to Girl Scout events.

These are a great easy way to give us something to listen to besides me trying to skip past the most recent Kesha song (ugh!) or completely inappropriate DJ banter.

I think so far this one has been my favorite. I love mysteries, so as a adult it's easy to spot "who done it"

but for my 9 year old, this one completely surprised her. And has really started her love for this series.

[Sana · Rating 4 out of 5]

childrens books >

[Taylor Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read “The Absent Author” by Ron Roy. It is a cute kids book about an Author who gets kidnapped. The story takes place in a town called Green Lawn during the summer. The whole story happens within two days.

The main characters of the book are Dink, Ruth Rose, Josh, and Mavis Green. Dink, Ruth Rose, and Josh are all kids. Ruth Rose loves the color purple and she is dressed in it from head to toe. Josh is more of a quiet kid who tags along and does whatever Dink and Ruth do. Dink is the leader of the group. He plans everything and tells everyone to what to do.

Dink arranged for his favorite author “Wallace Wallice” to come and do a book signing at his towns library, but Wallace Wallice never showed up. The kids immediately thought that he was kidnapped. The kids met a woman named Mavis Green and she agreed to help the kids find their favorite author. They started gathering clues to help them find him. They found out that the last place he was seen was at his hotel. They checked with the hotel manager and he told them that Wallace Wallice checked in but never slept in his room. The kids found a man in the room next door who claimed to be wallace Wallice. The kids found out that Mavis Green was the real Wallace Wallice and her brother was the man in the room. Mavis Green faked her kidnapping because she is writing a new book from the perspective of a kid. She wanted to know how they would figure out a kidnapping and what they would do.

This book is at a young reading level and I would probably recommend this book to fifth graders who like to read chapter books that are at their reading level. This book kept me interested in what I was reading, even though it was an easier reading level. I had fun reading this book and would rate it a 3 out of 5 stars.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description from inside book flap:
"A is for author.... Dink writes to his favorite author, mystery writer Wallis Wallace, and invites him to visit Green Lawn. To Dink's amazement, Wallace says he'll come! But when the big day arrives, Wallace is nowhere to be found. The police think he just missed his plane, but Dink suspects foul play. It's up to Dink and his two best friends, Josh and Ruth Rose, to find the famous writer--before it's too late! "

This book, from the A-Z Mystery series is a great starter chapter book for high 1st grade-3 grade readers. The main characters, Dink, Ruth Rose and Josh work to figure out a mystery. I liked how the kids were the problem-solvers and also the strength of the female lead. The characters are not fully developed, and I got frustrated with the names of characters (Ruth Rose, Wallis Wallace), however I think this is a book that students would really enjoy.

[Pallavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

****3.0****

I am trying to introduce my kid to newer books and genres. But this book is not for a 6year old. I had to explain a lot but it would be a good book for 8+ age.

Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose are hell bent on finding their favorite author Wallis Wallace when he doesn't turn up at a book shop for book signing. It was a good mystery book.

Happy Reading!!

[Jan Agaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly had a better plot twist than a lot of adult thrillers nowadays sorry not sorry lmaoo

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac (7) was incredibly invested in this mystery.

**all read aloud ratings (so far) are Isaac’s.

[~Silv (ilpianetadeilibri) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho deciso, piano piano, di rileggere la serie dei Piccoli investigatori, stavolta in ordine cronologico di pubblicazione americana, anche se ogni libro ha un caso diverso.
Ci sono alcuni titoli che non sono mai stati tradotti, ed essendo un inglese molto semplice posso finalmente esercitarmi con la lingua.
Leggere questa serie era l'unico modo per uscire dal blocco del lettore: fiondarmi su libro che amavo da bambino fa sempre bene al cuore e all'anima.
Devo dire che ho fatto benissimo, perché i protagonisti di questa serie, ovvero Dink, Josh e Rose mi erano mancati tantissimo.
I libriccini sono semplici e brevi, la scrittura è grande e ci sono le illustrazioni, che trovo meravigliose. Non vedo l'ora di andare avanti con la serie.

[Moriah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes I read this with my kids, yes I’ve read it before, yes I’m still putting it on my 2024 list. if u have a problem you might be a goodread cop, take it up with the Lord 😂

[Pooja Banga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read !!!Can be recommended to everyone..It is a courageous adventurous tale ..
A is for author....

Dink writes to his favorite author, mystery writer Wallis Wallace, and invites him to visit Green Lawn. To Dink's amazement, Wallace says he'll come! But when the big day arrives, Wallace is nowhere to be found. The police think he just missed his plane, but Dink suspects foul play.

It's up to Dink and his two best friends, Josh and Ruth Rose, to find the famous writer--before it's too late!

[Geyz-G1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like those stories. Each story began with a puzzling thing and the heroes who would solve the mysteries are Dink and his friends. They are 3rd graders. They solved the mysteries by observing, asking questions, thinking and discussing. When reading the stories, I would guess the ending along the way. Sometimes my guess is wrong and sometimes I got it right. I always could not wait to find out the ending once I started a story.

[Szneco · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've first read a book from this series and I feel amazed there're many useful expressions in it.
If you are English learner as a second language, this kinds of books for children would be helpful.
You could understand the context where sentences are used. That is hard to know by learning with textbook.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dink's favorite author is supposed to come to a book signing but never showed up. Now he and his friends start looking for the missing author. This is a fun book with an hilarious ending.

[lee]

these books were my childhood i love them so much except ruth rose really had me thinking i could rock one color outfits and lets just say i did not ...

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Galen finished on April 1, 2025.

[Aaron Schroeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

One day Dink decides to write to his favorite author, Wallis Wallace, and invites him to come to the local library to visit with him. Surprisingly, Wallace says he will come. Wallace never shows up on the day he says he will come, and Dink and his friends decide to go out and find him. They must use the clues left behind to try to save Wallace before it is to late.

The main characters in the story are Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. Wallis Wallace also plays an important role as the kids are trying to save him. Officer Fallon is important because he gives the kids a big hand as they try to save the author.

The setting of the story takes place in Green Lawn. There are a couple of places within Green Lawn that the kids visit. I would say the story probably occurs during modern times because of some the things the kids and the officer use during the investigation.

I think hard work and friendship are the two most important themes from this story. Dink and his friends never give up and try their hardest to find Wallace. They must also stick together as a team and use their knowledge to find the missing author.

This book really wasn't that exciting at times. But, I will have to admit that it did keep me guessing at what will happen next. I recommend this book to kids in middle school and older because it is a fun and understandable book.

[Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly the author himself inserted parts of himself into the book - but it all turned out cute enough that I will not hold that against it.

I like the way the author managed to give enough clues to keep one's mind searching for the possibilies, but somehow managed to not really give enough to figure it out - which given that it is written for children and I have too much experience to be one would have make the story rather boring. Some books do this and are just super frustrating; actually crime shows I stopped watching kept doing this and when I did better at guessing who did it based on who was shown in the first five minutes and not important until the last 2 (or worse, a totally unseen/unmentioned character did it). This book was really great at the balance between the extremes.

[(NS)Jordyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book series is perfect for 2nd and 3rd grade. The storyline is simple enough for readers that are still focusing some of the time on decoding. The main character, Dink, and his friends Josh and Ruth Rose aren't the most developed characters, but they could grow after a few books. I think one of the reasons this book series is so popular is because it empowers the child-characters and has them work with the adults on an almost equal playing field to solve the mystery. I'm actually interested in introducing these to a few of my students to see if they would like to read them independently.

[Kori Looker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A boy, Dink, writes a letter of invitation to his favorite author Wallis Wallace. Wallis Wallace wrote back saying, “I’ll be there no matter what, unless I’m kidnapped.” When Wallis Wallace doesn’t show, Dink thinks his favorite author is kidnapped. He is determined to solve the mystery of the absent author. Turns out the author tricked Dink about the kidnapping! Wallis Wallace was with him the entire time disguised as Mavis Green. Wallis watched as his number one fan, Dink, solved the mystery that his next book will be about. I recommend this book to everyone. It’s an all around good book.

[Becka dittmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the book was okay. It was a mystery that was taking place mostly at a book signing. An author was supposed to come to a book signing but never showed up. The kids got worried and tried to find him. The author was named Wallis Wallace and the kids followed the places where the author was. In the end they found out that the author was really a woman and she was playing a trick on all the kids. I would recommend this book to the younger boy generation because it is a mystery and some girls are not into mysteries.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although we've read a few of these books, we wanted to read the first in the A to Z Mysteries series and try to read the rest in order, if we can find them all at the library. It's interesting to see how these kids get their start as detectives, solving mysteries. It's not my favorite of the books so far, but it's got our girls hooked.

[kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first chapter book read-a-loud this school year. We finished on a library day. When my students returned from the library, half of them had checked out A to Z mysteries. Needless to say, it was a raving hit! Class voted and we will be reading The Bald Bandit next.

[allison riera :)]

yes i listened to this as i walked around campus, as a college senior. sometimes a children's classic is the perfect stress-reliever.

have listened to this so many times as a child, and it truly is one of the best children's book series.

[Mrs. Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

4th Grader at LPCA
This book is The Absent Author, part of the A to Z Mysteries series by Ron Roy. If you want to find it you will find it in the Mystery section. In the story the main characters are Dink, who is sort of the main character in the A to Z Mysteries. Then there is Ruth Rose who always has to have matching outfits and she is the only girl in the group of jr. detectives. Then there is Josh who is the funny and the imaginative one . The story takes place in Green Lawn where they all live and all the mysteries happen. One day an author ( Willis Wallace) was invited by Dink to come to Green Lawn and never shows up. Some think that he/she was kidnapped , but who has kidnapped him/her. Are they going to find the author before it is to late?

If you want to read this book I would recommend this book to kids who like mysteries . My favorite part of this book is probably when the author does not show up. I think that is when the mystery happens in the Absent Author. Then the other part of the book I enjoyed was when they find out that he/she was kidnapped. Throughout the book I thought that the author used a lot of dialogue, which I think is good because you can know what the character is saying. He also used really good adjectives. What I learned from reading this book is that mystery books are really interesting . I also learned that that the mysteries they solve we can solve them ,too.

[Brent Ecenbarger · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're back for another A to Z mystery with our kids. This was the first book in the series, where Josh and Dink are already friends and Ruth Rose becomes one. Here Dink's favorite author, children's mystery writer Wallis Wallace is visiting their town to do a book signing. When the group goes to the bookstore for the signing, Wallace never shows up and the kids decide to investigate what happened because they think he's been kidnapped!

This was more predictable than The Missing Mummy (if you can't figure out what Mavis is doing as soon as she shows up, you're probably not an adult). That being said, I liked that my oldest son got excited reading about an author and wanted to ask about authors of other books afterward. Lately he's been drawing his own comics a lot, but now he wants to try to write a chapter book. Pretty fun stuff for a five year old. We read the last five chapters in one sitting, a family record for a chapter book because it got pretty exciting for the boys at the end.

[John Yingling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first-rate mystery, perfect for school-age kids and quite fun for an adult like me. I like the way the three kids, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose, go about solving the mystery. Their friendship is very appealing. The adult characters are not written as stereotypes, and the mystery itself is a "fair play" story, with clues along the way for readers to think about and guess. But I didn't expect the ending, which is a good thing too. A very satisfying story and mystery. This is another series I would like to read more of.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of this when I couldn't sleep, thinking I wouldn't have to think much about the plot and just drift off. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. I listened to the whole thing, and it was actually prettt fun for a kids' mystery novel, even if I did solve it before Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. I would definitely listen to another.

[AlphaMom · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was terrible. Don't expect it to be good. The plot was absent, just like the author.