What do holograms have to do with some robberies at a local aquarium? Not much, as it turns out, other than to provide an interesting sidebar in Victoria author Kristin Butcher’s mystery novel Summer of Suspense.

Summer of Suspense is the first book in the Science Squad Adventure Series. The series is being promoted through chapters of the Canadian Association of Girls in Science (CAGIS), a national organization for girls with an interest in pursuing science and technology. The Science Squad in the story involves three girls who form a local chapter of CAGIS and use their science interests to solve mysteries.

Three stories are woven into Summer of Suspense but only the first, the aquarium robberies, is a mystery that the girls solve. The other two are dramatic events that the girls become involved in. Nevertheless, the characters of the Science Squad girls are well developed and they interact believably as they investigate what is going on around them.

The science in this book is excellent. Each chapter contains sidebars detailing the science mentioned in the story and ending with at least one experiment. The sidebars range from police methodology to the Doppler effect and the experiments are simple, clear, and intriguing, showing readers a variety of things from how to map the world on a flat piece of paper to why fingerprinting works. Highlighted web sites offer more information.

Readers approaching this book with a strong interest in science will be satisfied. However, they should read the story first and then return to cover the science, since the sidebars are often intrusive and sometimes deal with details that haven’t yet happened in the story.

One caveat: The title and the dramatic photo on the cover are misleading. This is a science book, and anyone picking it up and expecting a suspenseful, scary mystery will be disappointed because the plot is simply a vehicle to present the science.