The roadmap · Mystery chapter books
Dino Detectives
Mysteries for growing readers
A planned series of mystery chapter books for readers ages 8–12. Five detectives, one case per book, and every clue on the page for a reader to follow alongside them.
These are plans in motion and likely to change. Release dates will follow when each book is ready.
The team
Five detectives, every case
All five work every case, and each brings something the others can’t.
Tracker the Triceratops
The lead investigator. Tracker reads footprints, scents, and the faint traces of where something used to be.
Sherlock the Spinosaurus
The puzzle solver. When the clues pile up, Sherlock sorts them into patterns, though he would always like to make it a little more dramatic.
Bea Sleuth the Brachiosaurus
The lookout. Bea sees farther than anyone, and she usually looks before she speaks.
Iggy Ink the Iguanodon
The evidence artist. Iggy sketches a scene in glowing lines in the air, so the team can study it together.
Clue the Compsognathus
The smallest and the fastest. Clue remembers everything he runs past, and reminds himself out loud not to lick the evidence.
What kind of mysteries
Mysteries where nobody gets hurt
Every case begins with something that looks like a crime: a missing treasure, a ruined mural, a ledger that vanished overnight. Then the detectives look closer. The answer turns out to be an accident, a misunderstanding, a trick of the weather, or a kind someone who was talked into doing a favor. Nobody is hurt, and no one in these books wants to hurt anybody.
That’s deliberate. I want readers to pick up the habits a good detective uses: look closely, ask before you assume, check a clue twice. And I want them to see that most problems get solved by better habits, not by finding someone to blame.
A longer mystery
Who is Z.G.?
Running through some of the cases is a mystery that takes more than one book to solve: a buyer who signs only “Z.G.”, speaks through a reed tube, and leaves a trail of paper behind. Each case still wraps up in its own book, so a reader can start anywhere. The Z.G. cases add up to a bigger answer, a piece at a time.
More of the roadmap
Planned · Picture book roadmapPicture Books · Phases 2–6
Ideal for ages 5–7 · Read togetherNew characters and new corners of Megasauria, one phase at a time.
Planned · Illustrated chapter booksThe Echo Stones
Ideal for ages 6–9 · Read together or aloneFourteen hidden stones, two rival teams, and the story of how Concord Crater was found.
Available now · Read-aloud stories