Long ago, in England, the villagers whispered…. They whispered about the hacked-up body of young Jonathan Matthew, about its disappearance from the church altar, and about a mysterious connection to royalty. But mainly they whispered about the curse.

Eight hundred years later they’re still whispering as Mrs. Shaw prepares to come over from Canada to undertake church restorations with three 11-year-old sleuths in tow. When Veronica Shaw finds out that she is going, she races over to her best friend’s house (Ben Hilton) at 7 a.m., promising a startled Mrs. Hilton that she’ll keep her eyes shut as she barges into Ben’s room. Ben, not a morning person, is wonderfully garrulous. Our third sleuth, Eddy Miller, is a quaking wreck, who requires the whole weekend to recover from the victimization he undergoes at school each week.

An ominous stranger stalks our quirky heroes even as they’re finalizing their summer plans. He threatens them en route and especially in England. Is it because of the curse or is it something to do with a disappeared treasure?

Unfortunately, once we’re in England this crisp mystery gets flattened by formulaic writing. The kids fade into line drawings. Veronica’s contribution is that her mother is the reason that they’re here. Ben morphs into super sleuth and Eddy whines. We meet a kindly constable, a crotchety old historian, and of course, the ghost of poor old Jonathan Matthew, but, generally, there’s an absence of atmosphere, or cultural footholds placing us in Surrey. We might as well be in a Toronto suburb.

Though the promise of the earlier pages isn’t met, Green’s third book remains a likable and energetic mystery. This book is not for kids who have been nursing R.L. Stein, and need that next level of horror. Nor is it for those who roam through Michael Bedard’s exquisite darkness. That still leaves a considerable readership who like their thrills in more manageable doses. In fact, most nine-year-olds would happily stuff this book in their pockets to inhale on long summer drives.