♥ MG Book of the Year--The Golden Boar Awards; Juvenile Fiction--The Firebird Awards ★ "The perfect combination of suspense and charm." --Amazon Reader's Review Kids, get ready to meet the Phantom Rider ! Objects of value have been disappearing from the Mayfield family’s rural California horse ranch. The Botanic Hill Detectives—Moki Kalani, Rani Kumar, and twins Lanny and Lexi Wyatt—are hired to come for a week to investigate. Legend has it somewhere on the Mayfields’ forty-acre property is a long-lost gold mine. It was supposedly staked by thirteen-year-old Ben Mayfield’s five-time great-grandfather, Aloysius “Papa” Mayfield, in 1875. Adding to the excitement, a nervous Ben reveals a frightening secret to the detectives. At the ranch, he alone has seen a threatening black-clad figure on horseback whom he calls the Phantom Rider. Who is this mysterious person? Is he responsible for the thefts? Where is the lost gold mine? And what’s going on in the nearby, snake-infested ghost town of Rainbow Flats? The four intrepid detectives aim to find out. "A well-crafted mystery set against a background of rich descriptions of desert geography and wildlife, as well as life on a working horse ranch. Sherrill Joseph has once again woven an engaging story with high-level vocabulary, history, and middle grade characters who all learn more about the world, each other, and themselves."-- LAURA FINDLEY EVANS , author of the middle grade fantasy True North "Our four feisty mystery solvers venture away from Botanic Hill to team up with some unexpected new friends and face new foes. Sharpen your sleuthing skills if you want to keep up with these teen detectives!"-- JANET R. MACREERY , author of A Little Noble "Saddle up and get ready for the thrilling ride of your life as you gallop through the action-packed pages of Walnut Street: Phantom Rider !"-- LAURIE BUCHANAN , author of the Sean McPherson novels "'Giddly-up' and join the Botanic Hill Detectives at the Gold Mine Acres Ranch. Middle grade readers will love spending time chasing the Phantom Rider through the pages as they try to identify the unknow horseman and locate Papa Mayfield's legendary gold mine before it's too late. An exciting mystery, thought-provoking historical facts, and clever vocabulary make this book an entertaining read from cover to cover."-- BARB HUSTON , 3rd grade teacher, Arrowwood Elementary School, Saginaw, MI "This is one of my new favorite series! Following along and keeping track of the clues were really fun for me. When I got done with a chapter and saw the title of the next one, I just needed to keep reading!"-- MAKENZIE S ., 4th grader, Saginaw, MI "This book was like a roller coaster. It went slowly as characters were being developed. But, my gosh. When it hit the action, it was FAST and exciting! There were so many loops and turns that kept me guessing."-- BRIAN P ., 4th grader, Saginaw, MI The author patterned her detectives after her fifth graders and young twin cousins to be mature, smart, polite role models for her readers. She thinks kids rock and wishes they ran the world!   Sherrill Joseph will be forever inspired by her beautiful students in the San Diego public schools where she taught for thirty-five years before retiring and becoming a published author.   She has peopled and themed her mysteries with characters of various abilities, races, cultures, and interests, strongly believing that children need to find themselves but also others unlike themselves in books if all are to become tolerant, anti-racist world citizens.    Like her detective character Rani Kumar, Sherrill is a lexical-gustatory synesthete. She is a native San Diegan where she lives with her adorable poodle-bichon rescue, Jimmy Lambchop. Having never lived in a two-story house, she is naturally fascinated by staircases.   Sherrill is a member of SCBWI, the Authors Guild, and Blackbird Writers and promises many more adventures with the squad to come!