Imagine a time without TV, fast food, or the Internet. Imagine a Coke costing a nickel but you don’t even have a penny. Imagine a time in America’s history when only a few families owned a car and you weren’t one of them. If you can imagine such a time, you have just stepped into the Great Depression of the 1930s, a time when the dreams and hopes of Americans turned upside down and most lost their farms and their livelihoods.
The four books of the Maggie and Em Mystery series take you back in time, where the eleven-year-old Brandenburg twins make their own “fun” on their aunt’s sprawling farm in rural Ohio. Oh, and they solve mysteries in their spare time. Middle grade fiction for ages 8-12.
Book One – The Lost Heirloom (formerly The Secret of the Madonna)
Times are tough for twins Maggie and Em Brandenburg, living during the Great Depression of the 1930s. But there’s a glimmer of hope. Spending the summer with Aunt Sophie, the twins might be able to help save the family farm, which would bring a brighter future. But a big “if” stands in their way. If the twins can unlock the secret of the legendary, lost Brandenburg treasure. If Maggie can overcome her fears while they search scary places. Can she summon up the courage to make her dreams come true? Or will Em’s impetuous, daring ways bring their hopes crashing to the ground?
Book Two – A Maze of Secrets
Maggie thinks everything is perfect in their new “forever home,” buth then a series of unexpected houseguests turns the twins’ lives topsy-turvy. Their cousins are pests. Worse, Maggie has lost ten silver dollars she won, money she must turn over for a project. Where did it go? When she hears about the legend of the Magruder Maze, more trouble pops up. Who is after a lost cache of gold coins? Maggie hears cackling laughter and clinking coins and wonders what it means. What secrets lie behind the hidden doors and windows of the maze? Can Maggie solve the mystery before it is too late?
Book Three – Secrets in the Cellar (coming soon)
The twins travel to Cincinnati to visit Aunt Flora and Uncle Ben for Thanksgiving. Right after the feast, tragedy strikes, so the girls stay to help run the family’s new restaurant. It isn’t easy, especially when cousin Clark insists their home is “haunted.” Maggie and Em don’t believe in ghosts, but they soon realize Clark is far from wrong. A dirty kitchen cleaned at night by someone or something unknown. Mysterious footprints coming up from the cellar. The sound of distant children’s voices. An eerie whining noise. Who or what is hiding in the cellar? Maggie and Em must find out before it’s too late.
Mysteries, Westerns, & More 