Cleverly inventive time travel, kids meet gangsters, novel and a great use of historical setting taking the reader back to noir Los Angeles of the 1930s. A fun read for all ages, even adults who enjoy a good noir mystery. Jake and his sister, Darlene, are new to L.A. They discover a skeleton key that acts as a sort of time machine and introduces them to the ghost of Archer Wolfe (mystery aficionados will understand the significance of these names), a 1930s private detective who was framed for a murder he didn't commit. Wolfe now wants the two kids to find out who framed him and why. There is a ticking clock element, as Wolfe needs to have his name cleared before his corpse can be laided to rest. From its title to its period slang and references, this novel is a literary feast for fans of hardboiled fiction. The time travel element is imaginatively utilized, the mystery is a clever homage to Hammett and Chandler, and the author has fun with the very contemporary Jake and Darlene trying to pass themselves off as '30s private dicks to a motley crew of mobsters and molls. Those who know L.A. will appreciate the shout-outs to Coles, the Fred Harvey House at Union Station, the Aztec Hotel on Route 66, and other local landmarks. This is one of the best mixes of gangsters and kids since Jodie Foster said, "Smear my lipstick" in Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone. Publishers Weekly Reviewer