Encyclopedia Brown's detective work might be enough to keep small-timers like Bugs Meany and Wilford Wiggins in line, but his hometown of Idaville may as well be Snoozeville compared to strange and surreal Santa Martina, where seventh-grade sharp-witted super-sleuth Sammy Keyes hangs her hat. Sammy doesn't go looking for cases to solve in this town: she's too busy pulling her rear end out of the fire, finding herself in one predicament after another. In Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf (her fourth adventure, following Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy), Sammy gets snookered into dog-sitting Marique, a furry, orange, hoop-jumping Pomeranian, one of the 12 dogs-of-the-month riding atop the Canine Calendar Christmas float. But at the height of the parade, Marique disappears just as three people dressed as the Three Kings throw panicked cats onto the dog-laden float. Chaos ensues, and before the fake snow even settles, Sammy finds herself in the center of a dog-napping scheme, blackmailed by Marique's mean-old-lady owner into tracking the little Pom down before she has to pay $50,000... or else. It's just another week in Santa Martina, and just another case for Sammy. More clever clues and characterizations from the capable Wendelin Van Draanen, who spins another complex, satisfying, often laugh-out-loud installment in this quirky youth mystery series. Encyclopedia Brown's got it easy. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes