Maisy And The Missing Mice

By Elizabeth Woodrum

The mysterious Black Boot has stolen the school mascots.

Maisy Sawyer has a mystery to solve - and she's the best detective in fourth grade. No, she is the best detective in the whole school, and rescuing the little mice is her new mission.

Raising the stakes, The Black Boot has also taken Maisy’s famous lollipop collection and warns her to stop searching for the mice if she ever wants to see her lollipops again.

Follow the clues as Maisy tries to discover the identity of The Black Boot and find her prized lollipops - and the school mascots - in the first book in The Maisy Files series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Next Chapter
• Release date: Feb 1, 2022
• ISBN: 4867512176

Book preview

Prologue

The light from the street lamps made gray circles on the sidewalk and pavement all around her. Maisy rested against the building, adjusted her fedora hat, and pulled her last cherry lollipop from her pocket. Distracted by the sweet scent of her candy, she didn't notice her dog's low growls that should have warned her of the approach of someone on a bike who was rapidly coming toward her. Suddenly, she heard a low, gruff voice call her name. She looked up in time to see a paper being tossed into one of the circles of light on the ground. She pushed herself off of the building and made her way toward the lamp post. With unsteady fingers, Maisy reached down to pick up the note. She opened the crinkled paper and saw it was smudged with dirt from where it had rested on the sidewalk. It only took her a moment to read the note.

If you ever want to see your lollipops again, forget about the missing mice.

-The Black Boot

Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. The Black Boot, as he had taken to calling himself, appeared to be nothing but a thief. Maisy didn't know how, but she was going to take him down. Of course, she had to figure out who he was first. It was bad enough that he had stolen the school's mascots, but now he had admitted to stealing her collection of cherry lollipops. And nobody got away with stealing Maisy's cherry lollipops.

Chapter 1

It had all started earlier today at lunch. Maisy and her best friend, Veronica, had been enjoying their pizza and talking about Veronica's birthday party that was to take place tomorrow night at an Italian pizza restaurant. They were excited that Veronica's mom and stepdad were throwing her party at the Andiamo Pizzeria. It was the girls' favorite restaurant in town, because it had a lot of fun stuff for kids to do. It was a regular restaurant, but there were also a lot of games to play in the arcade. Plus, both girls tried to keep pizza as a steady part of their diets.

Maisy and Veronica had only been seated for a few minutes when the principal had come over the intercom with an announcement. Her voice was calm, but it was obvious she was annoyed. Students, this is Principal Hollendar. Our school mascots have been stolen from their home in the science lab. If anyone has any information, please come to the office. A student reported seeing a black boot disappearing around the corner in the hallway shortly before they were discovered to be missing. That is our only clue at this time. A reward will be given to any student who helps find and return the mice.

Veronica was furious. She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and joined the other students in their shouts of anger. Maisy just closed her eyes at the mention of a clue. She could feel her skin tingling with excitement. She loved mysteries and was excellent at solving them. In fact, the other students knew of her talent and came to her whenever they had a problem. They knew she would solve the case quickly and for a fair price. But, Maisy didn't work for money. She worked for cherry lollipops. They were the second most precious thing to her, the first being her little dog, Reesie.

Maisy Sawyer was not like the average fourth grade students that attended West Valley Elementary. She had grown to love old black and white mystery movies, the kind that grandparents had watched when they were children back in the Stone Age. When she was on a case, her world seemed to fade to