Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer

Harking back in style to the pulp mystery genre (the audio book even starts with some appropriately Film Noir background music), Half-Moon Investigations features a 12 year old Irish detective, Fletcher Moon, solving mysteries in his elementary school. When he is hired to find a missing celebrity souvenir by the school's most "popular" girl, things begin to heat up. Suddenly, there are a lot of other suspicious cases and his prime suspect, a local boy whose family has a reputation for trouble, becomes his partner in solving the crimes. Funny, smart, with a touch of Irish wit, Half-Moon Investigations is great fun. The crimes and action fit the upper elementary/middle school audience it is aimed at. The audiobook narrator, Sean Patrick Reilly, reads in a strong Irish brogue using a wide variety of characterizations, including a pretty good Elvis impersonation. (Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer. Read by Sean Patrick Reilly. Listening Library, 2006.)