The Jigsaw Jones Mysteries are short, beginning chapter books. Jigsaw Jones is a second-grader who solves mysteries around his school and neighborhood with the help of his friend, Mila. He charges a dollar a day for his services. In some ways, he is a little like Encyclopedia Brown as a character, but this series doesn’t follow the short story, solve-it-yourself format of Encyclopedia Brown. Within the stories, Jigsaw is familiar with the Encyclopedia Brown books and references them in at least one book in the series.

Jigsaw also sometimes gets help from other friends and classmates at school. Ralphie and Mila are his two best friends and appear most often. Jigsaw’s friends and classmates are:

Mila Yeh – Jigsaw’s detective partner. She writes messages to Jigsaw in secret codes (different ones in each book), and they have meetings in their tree house to discuss their cases.

Ralphie Jordan – Ralphie has an older brother, Justin, who is sometimes the culprit in their cases, not because he actually commits any crimes or has malice against the younger kids but because he’s a bit of a prankster. Ralphie’s brother is genuinely fond of him and his friends.

Bigs Maloney – As his nickname suggests, he’s bigger than the other kids in his class. He’s intimidating, but he also calls on Jigsaw for help.

Geetha Nair – She is a classmate who is very good at drawing people’s portraits, and she helps by being a sketch artist for suspects. She doesn’t speak much, but she’s willing to help.

Jigsaw Jones’s real first name is Theodore, but it hardly ever appears in the series. He gets his nickname because he likes to do jigsaw puzzles. He has an older brother and sister, and his grandmother also lives with the family, although Jigsaw’s family doesn’t often appear in the stories. He’s usually with his friends. He often wears a baseball cap, and he has a dog named Rags, who appears in various stories.

The books are by James Preller and contain black-and-white illustrations.

Books in the Series

#1 The Case of Hermie the Missing Hamster (1998)

Jigsaw and Mila help a neighbor search for his lost hamster.

#2 The Case of the Christmas Snowman (1998)

Jigsaw helps Lucy search for a rare coin that belongs to her father.

#3 The Case of the Secret Valentine (1999)

Jigsaw tries to figure out who is sending him unsigned Valentines.

#4 The Case of the Spooky Sleepover (1999)

Jigsaw’s friend Ralphie is having trouble sleeping because he hears strange noises at night, and he thinks it’s a ghost.

#5 The Case of the Stolen Baseball Cards (1999)

Someone steals Eddie’s baseball cards and leaves a message that says, “The Phantom Strikes!”

#6 The Case of the Mummy Mystery (1999)

Jigsaw’s class at school is getting ready for the class Halloween party. One of their classmates accept a bet to eat a worm, but the bag with the box of worms somehow gets switched with the bag containing the pumpkin pie for the class party. Jigsaw suspects someone dressed as a mummy might have been responsible.

#7 The Case of the Runaway Dog (1999)

When Jigsaw’s dog, Rags, disappears, he and Mila have to find him!

#8 The Case of the Great Sled Race (2000)

Bigs Maloney, an intimidating boy from school, hires Jigsaw to find his missing sled.

#9 The Case of the Stinky Science Project (2000)

For some reason, there’s been a bad smell during science classes at school. Nobody seems to know what’s causing it until another student performs a magic trick that gives Jigsaw the solution.

#10 The Case of the Ghostwriter (2000)

When Jigsaw’s teacher says that an author is going to visit the class but the author’s identity is a secret, everyone wants to know who the author is, and they get Jigsaw to investigate.

#11 The Case of the Marshmallow Monster (2000)

When the kids go on a camping trip, one of the adults tells them a story about a monster, and the kids decide that they want to catch it.

#12 The Case of the Class Clown (2000)

Someone keeps playing pranks at school, and Jigsaw and Mila try to figure out who it is.

#13 The Case of the Detective in Disguise (2001)

There is a double mystery in this book. Jigsaw and Mila try to find who has been stealing brownies from a restaurant, and they also compete with a classmate to find a missing football.

#14 The Case of the Bicycle Bandit (2001)

Jigsaw Jones helps to find Ralphie’s stolen bike.

#15 The Case of the Haunted Scarecrow (2001)

Someone steals Kim’s necklace and tries to get her to pay a ransom to get it back. When Jigsaw becomes involved in the case, the thief insists on a payment drop-off in front of a creepy old house with a scarecrow that comes to life!

#16 The Case of the Sneaker Sneak (2001)

Bigs asks Jigsaw to help him get his stolen football shoes back before an important game.

#17 The Case of the Disappearing Dinosaur (2002)

When Danika does a magic trick at Bigs’s birthday party and makes his toy dinosaur disappear, she is unable to get it back and can’t figure out what happened to it. Can Jigsaw figure out what went wrong and find the dinosaur?

#18 The Case of the Bear Scare (2002)

There’s a rumor that there’s a bear on the loose in the area, but is there really a wild bear, or is it just a prank or rumor?

#19 The Case of the Golden Key (2002)

A new boy moves to town, and Jigsaw investigates a mystery in his attic.

#20 The Case of the Race Against Time (2003)

Jigsaw loses his grandfather’s watch and needs to figure out where it is before his father realizes that it’s missing.

#21 The Case of the Rainy Day Mystery (2003)

Jigsaw and Mila think that Bigs Maloney is hiding a secret.

#22 The Case of the Best Pet Ever (2003)

There is a pet show at the local pet store, but someone steals the prize!

#23 The Case of the Perfect Prank (2004)

Someone stole Danika’s cat, but when Jigsaw and Mila try to find it, someone keeps giving them clues that are false leads. April Fool’s Day is coming, and it seems that Jigsaw and Mila can’t believe anything or anyone!

#24 The Case of the Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost (2004)

A classmate, Cassandra, says that she’s seen a ghost at school, and Jigsaw and Mila investigate.

#25 The Case of the Vanishing Painting (2004)

Geetha’s painting is stolen from the art room at school before Parents’ Night.

#26 The Case of the Double Trouble Detectives (2005)

A new boy, Reginald, moves to the area and becomes a rival detective. Reginald has all sorts of gadgets to help him, but Jigsaw is determined to prove that he’s the better detective.

#27 The Case of the Frog-Jumping Contest (2005)

There is a carnival in town with a frog-jumping contest, but the champion frog disappears.

#28 The Case of the Food Fight (2005)

Joey is blamed for starting a food fight in the school cafeteria, and he may be banned from the cafeteria if Jigsaw can’t prove his innocence!

#29 The Case of the Snowboarding Superstar (2005)

Jigsaw’s family spends their vacation at a snowboarding resort, and Jigsaw finds a missing bandana for a famous snowboarder.

#30 The Case of the Kidnapped Candy (2007)

It’s Valentine’s Day, and Jigsaw and Mila have to figure out who stole the Valentine candy from their class at school.

#31 The Case of the Spoiled Rotten Spy (2007)

Jigsaw gets to be an extra on a kids’ spy tv show, and the star of the show is accused of stealing one of the props.

#32 The Case of the Groaning Ghost (2007)

Classmates of Jigsaw’s think that they’re being haunted before Halloween. While Jigsaw investigates, there is a rival trying to beat him to the answers.

#33 The Case of the Hat Burglar (2007)

Someone keeps stealing hats from the lost and found.

Super Specials

#1 The Case of the Buried Treasure (2002)

Jigsaw finds a riddle at school that looks like it might lead to buried treasure.

#2 The Case of the Million Dollar Mystery (2002)

There’s a contest at school for kids to come up with original inventions, but someone is trying to fix the contest.

#3 The Case of the Missing Falcon (2004)

A girl hires Jigsaw and Mila to find her brother’s Maltese Penguin, which she accidentally sold at a garage sale. However, Jigsaw and Mila think that their client isn’t being entirely honest with them.

#4 The Case of the Santa Claus Mystery (2006)

A girl hires Jigsaw to help her trap Santa Claus so she can meet him.

#5 The Case of the Four-Leaf Clover ()

#6 The Case of the Wild Turkey Chase (2008)

Jigsaw Jones’ Detective Tips (2006)

Jigsaw offers advice to junior detectives with puzzles and mini-mysteries for readers to solve.