Something Rotten by Gratz

This is one of a series of teen mysteries with Horatio Wilkes as the detective. Its important to note that these mysteries have an ecological component to them. So if your teacher assigns you to read an ecological fiction book you can't go wrong here. The stories use people and place names from Shakespearean plays. Don't let that stop you from reading them. They are good mysteries with a little strong language and some violence. Horatio's friend Hamilton has just lost his father. A video tape left behind points to murder by poisoning, but how it was done is a mystery. There is also the issue of Elsinore Paper Company polluting the Copenhagen River and fudging water quality studies. Hamilton's girl friend, or former girl friend perhaps, is all over that. And someone has spies inside the Company hoping for a takeover.
Olivia's hard work, including drinking and getting very sick from the supposedly clean water, exposes the truth and we can presume water quality will improve, especially with Hamilton at the head of the company. It takes Horatio quite a while and and a couple brushes with death before he sorts out the true story of the death of Hamilton's father. Hamilton himself narrowly escapes a fiery death in a automobile explosion rigged by his father's killer. All's well that ends well and I look forward to reading more books from this series. JDW 4/13/09