I’ve just finished reading “Zoe Lucky and the Mystery of the Pink Pearl Necklace” by author M. Carol Coffey and have found it to be a fun read. “Zoe Lucky and the Mystery of the Pink Pearl Necklace” is another title in the “Zoe Lucky Mysteries” and as such, it is definitely tailored to the young adult audience.
In “Zoe Lucky and the Mystery of the Pink Pearl Necklace” our main character, (Zoe), is once again called into detective action when the mother of a friend of hers goes missing. To make matters more complicated, the only clue left behind is a bloodied pink pearl necklace.
Zoe and two of her classmates, Ginger and Jazz, have recently formed a “sleuth group” named ZINGERZ, and together they evaluate any, and all, of the evidence/suspects. Over the course of several days they put together some well formulated hunches, and with the aid of their friend, Detective Tracy, they hope to successfully solve what appears to be a murder mystery before anyone else becomes endangered, or worse…
So, the storyline within “Zoe Lucky and the Mystery of the Pink Pearl Necklace” was interesting and, for the most part, entertaining. Coffey writes a grammatically correct book and this tale is clear and concise. Unfortunately though, I did struggle with the “voice” behind the characters as it felt older than it should have been. To me, “Zoe Lucky and the Mystery of the Pink Pearl Necklace” read as if set in the 1950/60s due to personality traits/ideals/standards more common to those eras than today. Consequently, I struggled with believability after I read passages/sections that included current day people and events. The premise/plot in “Zoe Lucky and the Mystery of the Pink Pearl Necklace” was great, but the era, due to the overall voice, seemed incongruous.