Thirteen year-old Ingrid has no desire to get into trouble when she leaves her orthodontist’s office to walk to soccer practice in the small town of Echo Falls. Is it her fault that her parents are running late to pick her up? Unfortunately, Ingrid gets lost and winds up in the Flats, the older and rougher part of town. One of the local eccentrics, known to the kids as Cracked-Up Katie, takes pity on Ingrid and invites her inside to call a cab. They chat about Ingrid’s hobbies, which include acting in plays. Then Ingrid accidentally leaves her soccer shoes behind.

Of course Ingrid doesn’t realize this in the confusion of getting dropped off by the cab driver at the deserted soccer field, and then having her parents scoop her up and scold her for going missing when soccer practice was cancelled due to rain. But Ingrid remembers her shoes the next morning when she eats breakfast and scans the newspaper. A murder has happened in the Flats, and the victim is Cracked-up Katie.

Ingrid is now involved whether she likes it or not. The murder must have happened right after she left. Will she be blamed? Her shoes are clearly visible in a crime-photo. Even worse, her name is written all over them.

She decides she needs to sneak back to Cracked-Up Katie’s place and steal her shoes back. She does it in the middle of the night. This brings more strange clues to her notice. It also causes her to narrowly miss getting caught – first by a mystery man who could only be the murderer returning to the scene of the crime, and then by the cops themselves! After a harrowing chase through the woods, she also winds up with a stray dog who insists on coming home with her. She names him Nigel.

Poor Ingrid! If things weren’t complicated enough, the son of the police chief has a crush on her! He invites her to a steak dinner cooked by his father who soon starts questioning Ingrid about her activities. Does the police chief suspect her? Hopefully not. Will his son try to kiss her again?

Ingrid hopes so, but how can she concentrate on him when her parents are trying to trick her eccentric grandfather into selling his land? Grampy fought in World War Two and even had some close calls at Corregidor, and he’s not going to put up with any crap. But tensions are growing within her family as each side tries to trick the other. Plus her brother is acting really weird: flying into rages for no reason. Could it be ‘roid rage? Surely her brother wouldn’t be stupid enough to take steroids to help with his weight-lifting.

Meanwhile, Ingrid’s math teacher is accusing her of cheating. Even worse, her acting career seems to be going up in smoke. The town theater troupe, the Prescott Players, is putting on a production of Alice In Wonderland, and Ingrid wants to play Alice. But so does her rival, spoiled rich girl Chloe. Plus one of the adults auditioning for the Mad Hatter is a creepy newcomer named Vincent Dunn. Under his influence, the play is starting to take on some darker overtones.

If all that weren’t enough, Ingrid finds out that poor Cracked-Up Katie used to be one of the Prescott Players! Suddenly everything in her life seems to connect to Katie’s murder in the most sinister way. Ingrid must sort everything out or be drawn into deeper danger!

Down the Rabbit Hole is a fun mystery bursting with interesting subplots. Somehow, the author manages to balance and develop everything, giving each storyline the attention it deserves. Ingrid is very appealing: practical, level-headed, and a bit nerdy in an endearingly smart way. The vocabulary and complex storylines put the novel on the borderline between “older kid” and “young adult.” Down the Rabbit Hole can be found at Amazon through this link: Down the Rabbit Hole: An Echo Falls Mystery (Echo Falls)