Book Review of Turnabout
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The Children’s Book Review
Turnabout
Written by Chris Wieland
Illustrated by Leanne Franson
Ages: 10+ | 380 Pages
Publisher: The Smart Aleck Press (2026) | ISBN: 979-8-9857013-4-0
What to Expect: COVID-19 Pandemic, foster care, family, poverty, trust, problem-solving, resilience.
In this third installment of the Kay Dylan Mysteries series, the usual themes of family relationships, poverty, race, and resilience are pushed to new limits by the COVID-19 pandemic setting.
It’s April 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the town of Crabtree—along with most of the rest of the world—into lockdown. Kat Dylan’s lockdown is shared with her little brother Alec, her police-chief grandfather, and a mother who won’t explain her own comings and goings. Then a new classmate, Barnaby, asks Kat to help him track down his missing grandfather—the man his family was supposed to move in with. Soon, Kat discovers Barnaby’s grandfather is none other than Dominic Carbone, a convicted bank robber and killer with a long record of violence. As Kat, Alec, and their friends try to unravel the mystery of his disappearance, they find themselves caught up with an unsolved jewel heist worth $100 million, a menacing pair of ex-convicts, and a secretive federal agent. Kat has to figure out who’s really lying to her—and how far she’s willing to go to protect the people she loves—before the case turns deadly.
Wise-cracking but protective Kat remains a compelling main character, while readers will enjoy Alec’s growth from tagalong younger brother to tech-savvy sidekick with real investigative ability. Although family relationships remain realistically complicated, there is real warmth and banter in the family support network that surrounds the siblings, grounding the mystery plot that unfolds as the story progresses. Granular detail, such as the improvised masks, hoarded toilet paper, and taped-off grocery lines, bring the COVID-19 pandemic to life with vivid realism, as well as adding an eerie and claustrophobic atmosphere to the familiar Crabtree geography. By linking the mystery to Kat’s own family, this third book in the series deepens the exploration of the Dylan family dynamic, while the ending suggests further installments in the series will usher in further emotional upheaval.
A tween detective novel with a serious edge, Turnabout is perfect for fans ready to see where Kat and Alec are heading next.
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About the Author
Chris Wieland is the author of The Kat Dylan Mysteries (The Crabtree Monsters, The Body on the Beach, and now Turnabout). An award-winning writer and filmmaker, he lives in Southern California with his family, including two tough, smart kids who help him find the voices of his protagonists, Kat and Alec Dylan.
For more information, visit www.thesmartaleckpress.com.
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