While at canoe camp in northern Ontario, Willow, 12, and her brother, Rick, 10, find a mysterious oil sketch in an abandoned boxcar in the woods. Willow becomes convinced that the sketch is an original by one of the Group of Seven, and they take it to Kristo, a local artist, to find out for certain. He agrees to help, but his nervousness puts them on their guard. Is Kristo trustworthy? Will the sketch prove authentic? The children become amateur art sleuths in a bid to uncover the truth.

This is the first book in the Adventure.Net series by Andrea and David Spalding. The series combines adventure stories with non-fiction, which, in this case, focuses on the northern Ontario landscapes, the Group of Seven, and the art world in general. Facts mentioned in the main narrative are expanded upon in sidebars, many of which include the addresses of related web sites. Most of the web references are worth pursuing, and all of them are current – at least for now. The risk of referring to this medium is that some of the links could become inaccessible within a year or two.

Andrea Spalding’s previous work, especially Me and Mr. Mah and Sarah May and the New Red Dress, is distinguished by some strong writing, but this book seems to have taken off in a different stylistic direction. The characterization is sketchy, some of the dialogue is stilted, and the story has the psychological sophistication of a Scooby Doo episode. But the book is reasonably entertaining and informative, and with its diverse links and references, it might nudge readers toward some detective work of their own.