Second Fiddle: A Sizzle & Splat Mystery

Comedy / mystery: More strange happenings in a youth orchestra

• Edgar Award nomination (Best Young Adult Mystery) 

When strange pranks are played on the Pirelli Youth Orchestra, trumpet player Sizzle—Prudence Szyznowski—and tuba player Splat—Arthur Handley Reavis Pauling III—have a baffling mystery to investigate.

Who turned on the rehearsal room sprinklers during Handel’s Water Music Suite? Why was Splat’s tuba packed with fish when he played Finlandia? Worst of all, who set off the firecrackers in the case containing Kevin Lim’s violin—a quarter-million dollar Stradivarius he’d borrowed from his famous father?

Thumbing the noses in the face of danger, Sizzle and Splat pursue their suspects. The quick-witted and witty sleuths know they’d better solve the mystery before the prankster plays a final joke—and gets the last laugh on them. 

The action and wisecracks never let up in this entertaining and zany book.

“Kidd’s ability to manufacture suspense out of the doings of a youth orchestra is admirable; moreover, his neat plot is executed in a breezy style. Even readers who have never heard of Mozart will find themselves immersed—and manage to pick up a little music education along the way. Definitely entertaining.”

Booklist

“Comical, suspenseful, and thoroughly entertaining.”

Kirkus Reviews (starred)