Fifth-grade sleuth Cam Jansen plans a surprise birthday party for her parents, whose birthdays are days apart, but finds herself once again involved in a mystery when her grandparents, in town to attend the party, are robbed at the airport. Will Cam's photographic memory save the day, and help her to find the stolen luggage and presents...?

The twentieth entry in David A. Adler's series of beginning chapter-books about Cam Jansen's crime-solving adventures, Cam Jansen and the Birthday Mystery was first published in 2000, some twenty years after the first entry in the series, Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds. Like its predecessors, it is fairly formulaic - a theft occurs, and Cam swings into action, with the help of her amazing memory and her best friend, Eric - but then, that is often a characteristic of series fiction for this age. I enjoyed many of the earlier Cam Jansen books when I was young, but this one was published well after I was past that stage. Recommended to fans of the series, and to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mystery. ( )

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