I So Don't Do Mysteries (23 page)

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, Sherry.” And she's gone.

“Sherry!” Josh yells. “I'm coming!”

He's running helter-skelter toward me, a can of soda in his hand. Poor
unsuspecting guy. He has no idea what mystery-solving mania and supernatural strangeness
he's speeding toward.

I close my eyes and relive seeing Josh for the first time at a water polo game,
door-whacking him, hearing his golden tones on the phone, riding next to him in a Honda,
un-duct-taping him and, finally, the va-va-voom kiss.

I open my eyes; then, with a flick of my hair and some swinging hip action, I take a few
big steps in Josh Morton's direction.

He may not know what life as my boyfriend is all about, but I'm definitely
willing to help him find out. . . .

Published by Delacorte Press
an imprint of Random House Children's Books
a division of Random House, Inc.
New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the
product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2008 by Barbara Summy

All rights reserved.

Delacorte Press and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Visit us on the Web!
www.randomhouse.com

Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Summy, Barrie.
I so don't do mysteries / Barrie Summy. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: When thirteen-year-old Sherry is visited by the ghost of her mother, asking Sherry to help
solve a case involving rhinoceros poaching at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, Sherry's
involvement not only helps save the rhinos, but it also brings mother and daughter closer together than
ever before.

[1. Ghosts—Fiction. 2. Mothers and daughters—Fiction. 3. Rhinoceroses—Fiction. 4. San Diego (Calif.)—Fiction. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title. II. Title: I so do not do mysteries.
PZ7.S9546Ias 2008
[Fic]—dc22
2007037413

Random House Children's Books supports the First Amendment and
celebrates the right to read.

eISBN: 978-0-375-89135-9

v3.0