Into the Dark

13 year-old Ingrid is snowshoeing through the woods of Echo Falls with her boyfriend when they find the local conservation agent whose been missing. He'd been making problems for Ingrid's grandfather, and Grampy had threatened the agent, whose body is now lying on Grampy's land. Ingrid wants to prove her grandfather didn't murder the agent, but Grampy's lousy personality makes it difficult to believe he isn't involved.

This book does get into darker territory with a break in the family, tales of WWII survival, a serious injury for one character and a minor character late in the book who could have come out of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This is the third, and I think, the last of the Echo Falls Mysteries so far. I hope Abrahams show more continues the series as I'm fond of Ingrid, the child with much too old taste in Basil Rathbone movies and Fresca. show less

Into the Dark, by Peter Abrahams, is the third installment in his Echo Falls YA mystery series. This time, young Ingrid finds that she has landed the role of Gretel in the community theatre's upcoming production of "Hansel and Gretel." At the same time, she's hanging out more with Grampy, her (to put it mildly) crusty grandfather, and her friend Joey with whom she goes snow-shoeing and almost shares a kiss. Things at home are not going too well, what with Dad rushing off to the office at all hours, and Mom getting more and more frazzled. But when a body turns up murdered on Grampy's farm, and Grampy is arrested for the crime after refusing to provide an alibi, Ingrid must put all those other considerations aside in order to learn the show more identity of the true murderer before Grampy accepts a plea bargain and goes away to jail....This is an entertaining series set in upstate New York, with well-drawn characters; Abrahams does particularly well with getting into the mindset of a 13-year-old girl who is bright but somewhat insecure. As always with this series, I figured out the identity of the killer quite early on, but seeing how Abrahams got there was good fun. Recommended. show less

I love the Echo Falls books by Peter Abrahams. LOVE them. Into the Dark is the third installment in this series that started with Down the Rabbit Hole and was followed by Behind the Curtain. These novels, written presumably with teen and young adult readers in mind, center around Ingrid Levin-Hill, an intelligent young girl who is a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast. When faced with a mystery, she asks herself how Holmes would handle the situation. In this newest book, Ingrid finds herself dealing with seemingly insurmountable family problems - not the least of which is that her beloved grandfather has been accused of murder.
Abrahams, who's written several well-known popular fiction titles, seems to have a talent for writing for younger show more people. His characters are believable and well-written. Ingrid is a fantastic heroine. She's smart and funny, compassionate and brave - everything a heroine should be. While I won't say I was totally shocked by the ending, the plot was well-conceived and there was enough action and suspense to keep me reading late into the night. We also see a lot of growth in not only Ingrid but in her family's situation as well in this book. There are numerous issues amongst her parents and brother that make her situation all the more realistic. All I can say is that I hope there's a fourth book on the horizon. show less

Ingrid is back playing Gretel in the Echo Falls players rendition of Hansel and Gretel. But her life is never simple as something is happening between her mother and father, and to make matters worse - her grandfather is acting very strangely. When Ingrid and her friend Joey ( who wants to be more than friends) are out snow-shoeing on her grandfather's farm they make a terrible discovery - the body of a man who has been killed by a single shot; the same man who was harrassing her grandfather a week earlier. Ingrid's grandfather is arrested on suspicion of murder when he can't provide an alibi for where he was when the man was killed. Ingrid is sure he is innocent, so does some super sleuthing to prove he was visiting a doctor in the show more city. But her investigative skills are also put to the test when her beloved dog also goes missing. Are the murder and her dog's disappearance related? Ingrid gets herself kidnapped and then chased by a man on a snow plough! A very exciting end to the trilogy. Lots of fun, adventure and suspense. show less

Ingrid Levin-Hill is back, and she's playing Gretel in the local theater's production of Hansel and Gretel. The play's not the only place where danger lurks in the woods, though. One of the more obnoxious local conservation agents is found murdered on Grampy's farm, and Grampy gets arrested and charged with the crime. Grampy absolutely refuses to give an alibi, and refuses to cooperate with the sheriff, so it's up to Ingrid to try to piece together where Grampy was, and what happened to the conservation agent before Grampy is forced to cut a deal or go to trial -- both of which would lead to prison for him. Ingrid discovers along the way that Grampy was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War II on the island of show more Corregidor, and that he was part of the Bataan Death March -- neither of which he is willing to talk about, but some of his old comrades fill in enough of the details for Ingrid. How could this courageous, honorable, stubborn old man be guilty of shooting an unarmed man in the back? Ingrid's determined to find out the truth, but it's more dangerous than she knows. Great mystery! Grade 6 and up. show less

This series of books is getting progressively older in content, and I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually moves to teen. In this book, Ingrid is in the play Hansel and Gretel, and is trying to understand her grandfather and his odd behavior. Someone is killed on her grandfather's property, and he would rather take the blame for it than explain what he was doing (he was hospitalized for cancer). In the meantime Ingrid's best friend moves away, and it ends up that Ingrid's dad was having an affair with her mom. There are a lot of clues that sort of go over Ingrid's head for most of the book, pieces of the puzzle that she almost literally has to be hit over the head with. But it is one of the few preteen/teen mysteries that is of any show more quality, so I will continue to recommend them to teens, and probably keep reading in the series. show less

Fresh from her success solving the mystery of Down the Rabbit Hole, Ingrid has the role of Gretel in the new Echo Falls play. But learning her lines and getting lost in fictitious woods is the least of her worries. Grampy's farm is threatened, and when a local conservation officer is shot, the gruff old man is arrested - and he's not doing a thing to defend himself. With her parents marriage on shaky ground, her dog missing, her best friend moving away, and only herself to rely on, Ingrid turns to her idol, Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But can even he get her out of this one alive?

An even more sinister follow-up, although who-dun-it wasn't a huge mystery. Can't wait to see what Ingrid gets into next.