It All Started with a Bicycle — Plum McCauley

It All Started With a Bicycle is a hilarious mystery novel for readers nine through twelve. In it we find one level-headed youngster solving two mysteries, assisted (and occasionally hindered) by a cast of eccentrics both young and old.  Pam Fischer is coaxed into a treasure hunt by a daft, but well-meaning old woman who has come to stay next door to the Fischer's seaside Bed-and-Breakfast. This is agreeable to Pam, for it gives her a break from the seemingly never-ending list of chores her parents devise for her "benefit." Even more appealing to her is the idea of work that she would actually get paid for, which she attempts to arrange at the local candy shop, only to find out too late that the place is run by an absolute ogre. With all these forms of "torture" and solving a mystery, Pam barely has time to consider the most important question of all: Why does she keep seeing her stolen bike being ridden around town, and will she have the courage to confront the brazen thief? The answer is quite unexpected, and in the course of the novel, Pam discovers a whole lot more than she bargained for. By novel's end, Pam is a changed person, and the very meaning of the word "treasure" has changed for her forever.