The Search for Baby Ruby by Susan Shreve (review)

It’s an indignity when twelve-year-old Jess is asked at the last minute to miss out on her sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner to stay in the hotel room and babysit her infant niece, Ruby. It’s a horror when Jess emerges from the bathroom after a protracted session with the bride-to-be’s dress and makeup to find Ruby gone. Panicked Jess ropes in her other sister Teddy, a sympathetic ally, and goes off in search of Ruby herself, believing that if she solves the crime she’ll be forgiven for the lapse that allowed it to happen. The sleuthing/suspense genre is usually an adult one for Edgar-winner Shreve, who in children’s lit is a familiar creator of well-honed domestic fiction. The mystery here is accompanied by some astute observations about character and familial dynamics (Jess, for instance, “played the part of the good daughter in the O’Fines family the way Teddy played the part of the bad one”). That shrewdness about humanity helps mitigate the deeply implausible aspects of the crime story, from the cops’ allowing Teddy and Jess to take charge to Jess’ being abducted as well. Ultimately, Jess is so sympathetic and her plight of responsibility gone wrong so palpable to young readers that they’ll overlook the plot holes to cheer her on.