Cam Jansen series, by David Adler
Fifth-grader Cam Jansen’s photographic memory helps her solve mysteries. When she wants to remember something, she focuses on the object or scene, closes her eyes, and says “click.” This is how Jennifer Jansen got the nickname, Cam, which is short for camera. Cam works with her best friend and detective assistant, Eric Shelton.
There are 34 books in this series. Here’s a sampling.
Book 1: The Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds
Cam and Eric sit on a bench in the mall watching Eric’s baby brother while his mother shops. Suddenly, the alarm from the jewelry store goes off. A large man in a dark suit and an ugly green tie runs from the store. Then, a man and a woman with a baby leave. The man holds a baby rattle. Finally, after two old ladies come out of the store, someone inside the store closes the door and puts out the “Closed” sign. The police apprehend the large man, but they release him when they don’t find any diamonds on him. Cam becomes suspicious of the couple with the baby because they didn’t have a large bag filled with baby paraphernalia. Could they have stolen the diamonds?
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Book 4: The Mystery of the Television Dog
Cam, her best friend, Eric Shelton, and his twin sisters, Donna and Diane, are standing in line in front of Lee’s Bookstore. The man just ahead of them holds a white dog with black spots. The dog’s name is Cloudy, and he looks exactly like Poochie, the famous television dog. Cam takes a mental picture of Cloudy and the strange looking man with long red hair. Soon Poochie arrives for the autograph session advertising his new book. When it’s the red-haired man’s turn, he drops the box of dog biscuits he is holding. Both dogs jump down after the biscuits and start barking at each other. The man grabs his dog and leaves. When Cam, Eric, Donna, and Diane shake hands with Poochie, he leaves no ink marks. Cam gets suspicious and checks her mental picture of Poochie. Quickly, Cam and her friends are hot on the trail of the dog-napper.
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Book 15: The Triceratops Pops Mystery
Dear, forgetful Aunt Molly sends Cam Jansen a birthday card with some money inside. Of course, Cam’s tenth birthday was four months ago, and Aunt Molly’s card wishes Cam a happy eighth birthday. Nevertheless, Cam looks forward to spending her “birthday” money on the newest Triceratops Pops CD. On their way to Ernie’s music store, Cam runs into a man carrying two grocery bags. At the store, Cam looks for the new CD, but can’t seem to find it anywhere. A store clerk tells her that he just put six Triceratops Pops CD on Aisle two, but there are no CDs to be found. Did they sell out so quickly? Could they have been stolen? The store’s security system didn’t beep, and the computer shows an inventory of six CDs. While Cam tries to figure out what happened, a man sets off the security gate. No CDs. Just a huge watermelon in a leaky bag.
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Book 21: The School Play Mystery
Eric Shelton stars in the school play- “Stories of Abraham Lincoln.” Cam serves as Ms. Benson’s assistant calming the actors, supervising the set changes, and keeping track of ticket sales. Sara and Danny man the ticket table. The money goes into a slit cut in the top of a taped shoe box. The auditorium fills up quickly. As the play begins, Ms. Benson asks Cam to put the ticket money in a purse. When, Cam opens the box there are only four dollars inside. There should have been close to $150 from the ticket sales. Sara and Danny swear that they didn’t take the money, but someone did. During her investigation, Cam determines that the theft occurred while Sara and Danny were distracted by a boy selling sodas. As Cam looks back through her mental photos, she realizes that the shoe box she opened is different from the one Ms. Benson gave them to use. Now all Cam and the police need to do is find the owner of the shoes that used to be in the box the thief switched for the original one.
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Book 25: The Valentine Baby Mystery
Cam knows her mother is expecting a baby girl, but she says that Cam will still be surprised when the baby comes. On Valentine’s Day, Mrs. Shelton, Eric’s mom, comes to get Cam and Eric from school. Cam’s mom is in the hospital having her baby. While they sit in the hospital waiting room, Mrs. Shelton offers to buy the children some juice. Her purse is gone! The other people in the waiting room aren’t suspects, but Cam’s mental camera remembers the man in the lab coat with no name tag. Was he a doctor or the purse thief? Whoever stole the purse took Mrs. Shelton’s money and car keys. Fortunately, the unfortunate thief didn’t steal the parking ticket needed to get the car out of the parking garage. And, what was the surprise waiting for Cam when her baby sister arrived? It’s a mystery that can be solved by reading the book!
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Book 34: The Joke House Mystery
The Jansen family and Eric attend the joke-telling contest at the Joke House to support Aunt Molly Jansen. The winner of the contest will perform on The Gary Gold Comedy Hour. Aunt Molly wants to win because she wants to be famous. Unfortunately, she can’t remember any of the punch lines. During the first performance, Cam notices that the engraved silver plate that will go to the winner is missing. When she tells Gary Gold, he frantically looks around and, then, calls the police. Meanwhile, Cam reviews her mental camera looking for all the people who walked by the table just after the first comedian took the stage. What she sees takes the search for the missing plate into the kitchen.
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Here are the other titles in this series:
Book 2: The Mystery of the U. F. O.
Book 3: The Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones
Book 5: The Mystery of the Gold Coins
Book 6: The Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball
Book 7: The Mystery of the Circus Clown
Book 8: The Mystery of the Monster Movie
Book 9: The Mystery of the Carnival Prize
Book 10: The Mystery of the Monkey House
Book 11: The Mystery of the Stolen Corn Popper
Book 12: The Mystery of Flight 54
Book 13: The Mystery of the Haunted House
Book 14: The Chocolate Fudge Mystery
Book 16: The Ghostly Mystery
Book 17: The Scary Snake Mystery
Book 18: The Cat-Napping Mystery
Book 19: The Barking Treasure Mystery
Book 20: The Birthday Mystery
Book 22: The First Day of School Mystery
Book 23: The Tennis Trophy Mystery
Book 24: The Snowy Day Mystery
Book 26: The Secret Service Mystery
Book 27: The Mystery Writer Mystery
Book 28: The Green School Mystery
Book 29: The Basketball Mystery
Book 30: The Wedding Cake Mystery
Book 31: The Graduation Day Mystery
Book 32: The Millionaire Mystery
Book 33: The Spaghetti Max Mystery
