Kipper Dole and Larry Levitt are 13-year-old cousins. They live in different states, but sometimes, they visit each other and have adventures and solve mysteries.

Kipper (or Kip) is the younger of the two by a few months. His real name is Christopher, and he narrates the stories. He describes himself as being short with dark hair and tan skin. Most of the time, he lives on a farm in Kansas with his parents and three younger brothers (twins Tim and Ted and baby brother Barnaby, called Boomer). He only sees Larry on special visits because Larry lives in Michigan. Kipper is a little shy and unsure of himself, and he admires Larry for being more confident than he is.

Larry (short for Lawrence) is tall and thin with red hair, green eyes, and pale skin with freckles. He lives in Ludington, Michigan, on the coast of Lake Michigan. His father is the local chief of police. Part of the reason why Larry seems more confident and mature is that his mother died when he was very young, and he’s had to learn to take care of himself in some ways from an early age. He sometimes feels pressure to try to help his father both with household responsibilities and with crimes his father investigates because his father is a single parent who has raised him by himself. Larry is a little more competitive than Kip, and his father sometimes wishes that he’d be a little more laid back, like Kip.

The series was written by Carol Farley, who also wrote the Flee Jay and Clarice mystery series.

Books in the Series:

Mystery of the Fog Man (1966)

The boys investigate the theft of money from a ferry boat over the summer, and part of the secret of this mystery centers around a mysterious figure on the beach known as the Fog Man.

Mystery in the Ravine (1967)

The boys think that they’ve seen the body of a woman in a ravine, but when they investigate, the body disappears.

The Mystery of the Fiery Message (1982)

The boys investigate a series of suspicious fires.

Mystery of the Melted Diamonds (1986)

While spending the winter in Kansas, the boys investigate the theft of diamonds from a local jewelry store.