An Edgar Award Winner for Juvenile Fiction Perfect for mystery buffs with “elements of Alex Rider, James Bond, and Sherlock Holmes,” ( School Library Journal ) the Framed! series continues with Florian and Margaret going undercover at an elite private school! After helping the FBI solve an art theft at the National Gallery and uncovering a DC spy ring, Florian’s finding life at Alice Deal Middle School a little boring. Then his FBI handler, Marcus, finally has a job for him. Florian can’t wait! Is it a bank robbery? Counterfeit ring? International espionage? Not even close. The mission is even more middle school. There’s been a series of pranks happening at a prestigious private school attended by the president’s daughter who may—or may not—be involved. So Florian and Margaret go undercover to see if they can use their TOAST skills to figure out what’s going on before the media gets hold of the story. However, once the crime-solving pair arrive at the school, they discover that there’s a lot more than a few pranks going on, and the conspiracy of silence reaches all the way to the top. Then things take a sinister turn when a student vanishes in the middle of a concert at the Kennedy Center! Can Florian and Margaret save the day? Or are they about to get toasted? As in Framed! (2016), fast brain- and footwork saves the day at the last moment, but watching Florian wow everyone . . . with Holmes-style connecting of dots along the way is just as satisfying. A splendid whodunit: cerebral, exhilarating, low in violence, methodical in construction, and occasionally hilarious. ― Kirkus Reviews, Starred James Ponti is the New York Times bestselling author of four middle grade book series: The Sherlock Society following a group of young detectives; City Spies, about an unlikely squad of five kids from around the world who form an elite MI6 Spy Team; the Edgar Award–winning Framed! series, about a pair of tweens who solve mysteries in Washington, DC; and the Dead City trilogy, about a secret society that polices the undead living beneath Manhattan. His books have appeared on more than fifteen different state award lists, and he is the founder of a writers group known as the Renegades of Middle Grade. James is also an Emmy–nominated television writer and producer who has worked for many networks including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, PBS, History, and Spike TV, as well as NBC Sports. He lives with his family in Orlando, Florida. Find out more at JamesPonti.com. Vanished! 1. The Zodiac MIDDLE SCHOOL IS HARD. Solving cases for the FBI is even harder. Doing both at the same time, well, that’s just crazy. Trust me, I know. My name’s Florian Bates, I’m twelve years old, and along with my best friend, Margaret, I’m a consulting detective for the Bureau’s Special Projects Team. We assist the FBI, the same way Sherlock Holmes helped Scotland Yard; only Sherlock never had to close a case and write a book report on the same night. He also didn’t have to deal with all the other seventh-grade headaches like locker room bullies, nine o’clock curfews, or figuring out what to wear. All he had to do was put on his coat and deerstalker hat. Instant detective. Me? It seems like I’m always dressed for the wrong occasion. Like when we had to interrogate a witness while I was still in my soccer uniform. Or the time I was wearing my I’M WITH CHEWBACCA T-shirt and we ended up going undercover at the reception for the French ambassador. (In case you’re wondering, “Que la Force soit avec toi” is how you say “May the Force be with you” in French.) So when we arrived at the harbor patrol’s maintenance-and-repair yard it shouldn’t have been a surprise that I was the only one wearing a double-breasted blazer and herringbone tie. My mistake was that when I dressed for the symphony, I forgot to factor in the possibility of racing down the Potomac in a police boat. (I know, you’d think I’d learn.) The boat was Marcus’s idea. He oversees the Special Projects Team and it was a good plan except for one little detail: None of us actually had access to a boat. That meant we had to borrow one. Margaret and I waited outside the harbormaster’s office while he went in to see if he could get the duty sergeant to help us out. The stench of diesel was overwhelming, engine grease was everywhere, and when I saw my reflection in the window, I noticed my tie was crooked. “What are you doing?” Margaret asked when she saw me fidget with it. “Trying to straighten the knot,” I explained. “It’s a Windsor. It’s supposed to be perfectly centered.” She gave me a look. That Margaret “you’ve got to be kidding me” look. “We’re standing on a wharf surrounded by gas and grime and you’re worried about your tie being crooked. Why don’t you try to relax? No one’s going to notice.” “Technically it’s not a wharf,” I corrected. “We’re standing on a dock. And the dock is part of a marina. A wharf is an entirely different thing.” “Serious