Cold Case

                                                                  Video Review

(Hit the button to hear me talk)

Title: Cold Case
Author: Julia Platt Leonard
Pages: 281
Date Published: 2011
Age Groups: 10 to 13

    

Video Review Text

Hi, It's Priya again, doing another video review. Today I will be discussing "Cold Case", a book by Julia Platt Leonard. Cold Case is about a boy named Oz who finds himself dragged into a murder case. His brother, Dave, is accused and sent to jail. But Oz knows that his brother can't be a criminal, correct?

I myself will say this book is well done and a page-turner, but there are some things that I felt were left out by accident, and that being so I will give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Tiddly-so.



Plot

Oz Keiller gets up one Saturday morning at 6 AM to go to work at his family's restaurant, Chez Isabelle, and doesn't expect what happened to happen.

Then Oz finds a body in Chez Isabelle's walk-in freezer, with an odd face, and police think Oz's own brother, Dave, is responsible for the murder. But Oz doesn't believe his brother killed anybody... right? So Oz has to clear his name.

With the help of Rusty, Oz's cool and smart-mouthed best friend, Oz begins to realize some of the answers are right in front of him, and all he has to do is put them together, even if it means breaking a few rules.

As Oz and Rusty put together piece after piece after piece, they soon realize that the picture is far more twisted than they thought.

Characters 

Austin (Oz) Keiller: A thirteen-year-old aspiring chef. His0p mother and older brother run the family restaurant, Chez Isabelle. He is the main character of the story; the narrator, and is the one who finds the body in the walk-in freezer. Oz gives hints that he does not like school, even if his best friend does. Oz hates that his older brother Dave is always acting bossy around him while running Chez Isabelle. During the story, Oz's mother is away in Europe, taking care of their grandmother.

Dave Keiller: Oz's older brother and head chef at Chez Isabelle. The police suspect him of murder, and during the story, Dave spends most of his time in jail. Dave is very bossy, and has a very bad temper.

Rusty: Oz's best friend and sidekick. Rusty is smart, sassy, and very "cool". Her parents are portrayed as slightly weird, and for that reason she spends a lot of her time with Oz. Rusty is often calling Oz "stupid", or "idiot", for his lack of school skills and common sense.

Conclusion

I think this book was very nicely done, and I couldn't stop reading; I was upset when it ended. But I did recall seeing some unexplained things in the book that were never quite made clear. So I will give this book 4 out of 5 stars.