Sherlock Sam and the Missing Heirloom in Katong

Aspiring 10-year-old detective Samuel Tan Cher Lock, who prefers to go by Sherlock Sam, and his robot sidekick, Watson, prove that the promise of food is a great way to solve a mystery in this series opener from Low, a pseudonym for the husband-and-wife writing team of Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low-Jimenez. Auntie Kim Lian’s heirloom recipe book is missing, and it’s up to Sherlock Sam to find it so that Auntie can make her famous ayam buah keluak (a chicken stew). There are banter and jokes aplenty as Sherlock Sam and Watson investigate, and details incorporated throughout the story (as well as a glossary) help contextualize the Singaporean setting (the book was originally published in that country in 2013) and Sam’s family’s Peranakan heritage. If the mystery wraps up a bit too neatly and quickly, the book’s balance of problem-solving and goofy humor (as well as Tan’s chunky black-and-white cartooning) should leave readers looking forward to Sam’s future cases (Sherlock Sam and the Ghostly Moans in Fort Canning is available simultaneously). Ages 7–12. (Aug.)