The Cold Kid Case - (A Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery) by Rosalind Barden (Paperback)

About the Book

In 1930s Los Angeles, 11-year-old street kid Sparky is a girl on the run, framed for murder in this cozy take on noir with laugh-out-loud humor.

Book Synopsis

Bloody Crime Spree of the Century!

Meet Sparky, an orphaned, street-savvy 11-year-old living by her wits in the Depression-era Bunker Hill neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles. She is on a mission to clear her name after being accused of the murder of a little girl whose body she discovers on a park bench-talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! And things only get worse when Sparky is blamed for ever more outrageous crimes until her body count is ridiculous.

Will Sparky be able to summon the gumption to solve the crime and clear her name?

Rosalind Barden crafts an unforgettable and uniquely zany mystery, filled with a web of colorful characters, recalling the charm of decades past, with Hollywood, movie stars, mobsters, and, of course, murder.

The Cold Kid Case, the first in Rosalind Barden's Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery series, has been awarded multiple accolades, including the Firebird Book Award 1st Place for Cozy Mysteries. The crime-solving misadventures of Sparky, the most unlikely amateur sleuth, continue with The Cannibal Caper, The Monkey Island Murder, The South Seas Shenanigans, and coming in 2025, The Catalina Cahoots.

Review Quotes

"There's fun to be had, but little sugarcoating, in this wild, often chilling murder mystery." - Kirkus Reviews

"The Cold Kid Case delivers a piece of the action-and a spunky streetwise sleuth to go with it!"

- Diane Vallere, national bestselling author of the Madison Night Mystery Series

"Depression-era downtown Los Angeles comes alive when an eleven-year-old back-alley gamin becomes fugitive suspect number-one in a Bunker Hill murder."

- Jim Dawson, author of Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction's Mean Streets and Film Noir's Ground Zero

"What a fun, exciting adventure book! . . . A winner for kids [that] will appeal to adult readers as well. You just can't help loving Sparky!"

- Jackie Houchin, Here's How It Happened