I picked this book up on a whim at an educator's store. I love mysteries, I love children's books, and I had never heard of the series before. I liked several aspects of the story: the author uses her own grandchildren as main characters, and she and her husband are other characters; the stories are also intended to be educational, in a fun way, with historical information on different countries; the chapters are extremely short, which makes it a great choice for a read aloud for the mid-elementary age. The mystery wasn't that compelling, but considering the age of the main characters - and therefore the intended audience - I felt that the author was intentionally writing a simpler story that children of eight to ten could understand and try to solve the mystery by themselves.

The story kicks off when the grandma reads an ad in the paper, proclaiming a castle for sale in Transylvania, Romania. Mimi and Papa think that checking out the castle would make a perfect trip, fun for the grandkids and good mystery writing fuel for Mimi. Christina and Grant are thrilled, but en route to their destination, they spook themselves by reading books on vampires and Dracula. Once they arrive at the castle, creepy happenings only intensify their fear. However, they are young and ready for adventure, and investigate the strange episodes with as much enthusiasm as fear.

The story is short, as the whole escapade transpires within just a few days, and very kid friendly. The plot was fast-paced and had hidden passages, scary vampire look-alikes, secret rooms and secret orders. Kids should love it. I have to say that the mystery was not that compelling for me, but again I have to refer to the fact that this was written for a very young audience. The story was good, not great, but I'll probably check out more in the series. More importantly, I look forward to reading it with my daughters when they're older. ( )