The House of Found Objects [Bea Bellerose Mystery]
by Jo Beckett-King
Intermediate    Simon    288 pp.
7/25    9781665967174    $17.99
e-book ed.  9781665967198    $10.99

Twelve-year-old Bea Bellerose (from New Jersey) is spending her summer vacation in Paris. Bea longs to explore the city’s landmarks, but, alas, she is confined to Aunt Juliette’s apartment while her aunt works long days. The only place Bea is permitted to go is her grandmother’s antique store, the titular House of Found Objects. When a sketch of her great-great-grandfather drawn by a young Henri Matisse goes missing and a clue to its whereabouts appears under her aunt’s door, Bea decides to take up the case. She and her French cousin, Céline, stealthily travel all over Paris, from the Jardin des Plantes to Sacré-Coeur, searching for mysteriously placed clues and solving puzzles. Though they are hardly friends at first sight, Bea and Céline learn to work together to find the missing heirloom. The story is lighthearted and entertaining, with the sweetness of self-discovery sprinkled throughout as Bea becomes more confident and more proud of the person she’s becoming. Readers with an eye for puzzles and a knack for code-cracking will enjoy this first entry in a projected new mystery series.

From the September/October 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.