The Sherlock Street Detectives are a group of neighborhood friends who live on Sherlock Street and like to solve mysteries. This is a picture book series, so the mysteries are fairly simple, but they’re also educational. The books in this series use scientific concepts to explain the mysteries or to help solve problems. In various books, the kids explain how a compass works and how to make one, how a weather vane works and how to make one, and concepts in astronomy.

The four main characters are:

David Cooper – An African American boy whose father works for NASA. He has a telescope and likes stargazing himself. He also has a younger brother named Adam. His pet dog is called Barker.

Pedro – A Hispanic boy. He likes making things, and he is the one who demonstrates how to make a compass and a weather vane. He also has a pet parrot called Noisy, who can talk.

Walter – Twin brother of Ann. He has a dog called Watson. Watson doesn’t know many tricks, and he sometimes gets mixed up and does the wrong tricks when Walter gives him a command. Ann doesn’t have much confidence in Watson’s ability to learn, but he does occasionally help the kids with their mysteries.

Ann – Twin sister of Walter. She has a pet cat called Fuzz Face.

The author of the series is Mary Blount Christian, who also wrote other children’s book series and individual books. Many of them are also mysteries, including Mystery at Camp Triumph.

Books in the Series

The Pet Day Mystery (1989)

A classmate’s hamsters disappear during pet day at school, and the kids have to figure out where they went.

The UFO Mystery (1989)

Pedro sees a UFO through David’s telescope, and later, they spot a couple of strange creatures in the bushes outside. Have aliens come to Earth?

The North Pole Mystery (1989)

David’s younger brother disappears while David was supposed to be watching him, and he and his friends have to find him.

The Mystery of the Missing Scarf (1989)

Ann and her friends try to figure out what happened to the scarf she hung up to dry.

The Mystery of the Missing Red Wagon (1991)