e-Audio, 03:43:09
Narrated by: Megan Gage
Release Date: April 7, 2026
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Read from: April 7, 2026
Olive Oakes, #1
Source: Libro FM (I also received this e-ARC from the publisher and Libro FM. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Child Death, Kidnapping, Death of a Parent
For Readers of: Adventure, Audio, Auto-Buy Authors, Sparkly Covers, Middle Grade, Most Anticipated, Mystery, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic FictionFull of hijinks and heart, New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron’s new cozy mystery series introduces a modern-day Nancy Drew for kids.
Olive Oakes loves a good mystery. She keeps a notebook with her at all times, ready to jot down observations about anything that seems out of the ordinary. Along with her cousin Eli, Olive is always looking to follow the clues.
When Olive and her family visit a town called Whispering Woods, she uncovers a strange backstory to the traveling carnival that comes through the area once a year. With rumors of missing kids and ghost sightings, it’s the perfect opportunity for Olive to investigate! The people of Whispering Woods are very secretive, but Olive is ready to solve the mystery of the haunted carousel.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Y’all have no idea HOW GOOD this was. To me Kalynn Bayron can do no wrong. And this one is another banger. If you love mysteries, strong headed girls, and middle grade, read this one. It’s a banger.
Ok so the characters were my favorite part. I loved Olive. She was so smart and took no ish. She was definitely fearless. All the perfect qualities that one would need for a journalist. She did all the things that an adult journalist would do. I was impressed. It’s no surprise that she immediately recognized that something was happening and that something wasn’t quite what it seemed. And her cousin was a very good addition to her case. Eli was smart af and was the numbers side of that operation. Together they made a really cute pair, solving crimes lol The synopsis says she’s like a modern day Nancy Drew and I say yeah, but also maybe Harriet. Because she was nosey and I kind of felt that a little about Olive too lol
The plot was good too. I found myself really like sucked into it. I read it over the course of a work day and it was so much fun. Things never stopped happening and I was constantly laughing. And they visited the library, which obviously is a win to me as well. That ending tho? Yo, in my notes I just kept saying, “WTF is going on?!” lmao I was shocked. And this is one where I didn’t guess it but only because I was too into reading it to stop and make a guess. I just couldn’t stop listening to it.
I know I’ve said fun so many times in this review, but that’s truly what it was. I hope y’all pick this up. I promise you’ll have the fun that you had in all the classics.
Overall, I give you
