Editorial Content for Pieces and Players

In this entertaining crossover mystery, characters from different Blue Balliett novels join forces to solve the most difficult art-related mystery yet.

In three previous novels, Blue Balliett has portrayed three University of Chicago Lab School students ---Petra, Tommy and Calder --- who solve mysteries related to art and architecture. Firmly grounded in the real world, using real-life landmarks and masterpieces as inspiration, the mysteries also brought together three unusual kids who form an unlikely friendship thanks to their unique problem-solving skills. Now, in PIECES AND PLAYERS, Calder, Tommy and Petra are joined in their latest adventure by two other kids --- Zoomy and Early --- each of whom has been the protagonist of a stand-alone mystery by Balliett. Zoomy, who is legally blind, and Early, who lives in a nearby but very different neighborhood of Chicago, each bring their own skills and experience to the problem they are about to solve.

And it's a daunting problem indeed. The kids are brought together by Mrs. Sharpe, a trustee of the Farmer Museum in Chicago, which has recently had 13 priceless works of art stolen in an overnight heist. Mrs. Sharpe has heard that these teenage sleuths might have the right stuff to solve the crime, so she gives them special access to the museum and its collections --- and to its Board of Trustees, who, as it turns out, have been in the midst of a struggle of their own over what to do with the collection of the struggling museum. The mysterious Mrs. Sharpe also has a mysterious son who gets involved with the mystery, although no one really understands why. These kids, each with their own perspective on the case, need to figure out who to trust --- and how to trust one another.

As with Balliett's other mysteries, readers will likely find themselves inspired to seek out more information about these museums and their colorful histories.

Crossover stories are, of course, nothing new --- anyone who watched sitcoms in the ‘80s or read comic books knows that. But it is fun to see how these characters from Balliett's different fictional worlds join forces. Also fun --- especially for readers who have followed the characters since Tommy, Petra and Calder first appeared in Balliett's debut, CHASING VERMEER --- is seeing the kids mature from eager 11-year-olds to self-conscious and slightly awkward 13-year-olds, trying to navigate their friendship even as they stand on the cusp of their teen years.

Readers who have previously rolled their eyes at the series's overreliance on coincidence and clues bordering on magical realism will find similar frustrations here. That being said, PIECES AND PLAYERS is still a convincing and well-thought-out mystery in its own right. Like Baillett’s other books, it's well-grounded in the real world, being directly inspired by events and controversies at two real-life art collections: Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Philadelphia's Barnes Foundation. Although Balliett's Farmer Museum is fictitious, an author's note explains its indebtedness to these actual collections, and, as with Balliett's other mysteries, readers will likely find themselves inspired to seek out more information about these museums and their colorful histories.