Elizabeth, Jessica and their friends decide form a junior detective group—The Snoopers Club—but at first they can’t think of any mysteries to solve. Elizabeth suggests to Jessica that they could find hidden treasure and Jessica suggests looking for their Christmas presents, although most won’t arrive until Santa brings them on Christmas Eve. Elizabeth says that she doesn’t believe in Santa any more, but Jessica is convinced that he’s real.

At school, the twins are sent to the custodian’s office to get a spare key. In the place of the usual custodian, Jim, they find a jolly old man named Chris, who knows Jessica and Elizabeth’s names and has a long list of other names on his desk. Jessica thinks that Chris might really be Santa and the Snoopers Club decides to make the custodian’s true identity their first mystery to solve.

They collect several clues: the new custodian is from Alaska, which is near the North Pole; his full name is Chris Kreeger, which sounds like Kris Kringle; he has a map to plan the route of his next big trip; and he has a Santa suit in his office. The suit, it turns out, is for his job as a department store Santa, but when the kids visit him there, he somehow knows exactly what they want for Christmas without them telling him.

The twins’ parents tell them that Chris isn’t Santa, but Jessica isn’t convinced. Mrs. Otis’s class invite Chris to their Christmas party, where Alice is helping out as class mother. Chris gives out presents to all the children and somehow manages to get the adults just the right gifts, including a box for Alice that looks just like one she desperately wanted as a kid.

Soon after the party, Chris leaves the school as he has a big job coming up. Elizabeth doesn’t know whether she believes in Santa again, but she does know that Chris personified the spirit of Christmas, whether he was Santa or not.

I was utterly fascinated by the way that this book dealt with the Santa question. I was surprised that it actually talked about some children believing in Santa while others were equally certain that he didn’t exist. Would it cause some young readers to question their own beliefs? I don’t know. I do appreciate that it brought the question into things, though, as it’s a far more complex mystery when it isn’t just “is Chris Santa?” but rather an examination of belief.

I loved this book when I was a kid! Awesome mini-mystery. ( )

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