I would have preferred to read the books in this series in order, but instead I just picked up whatever was available at our library. I am reading this book right on the heels of Book 1, and I was surprised to find that Henry could drive! That was kind of fun, to see that the children had aged.
I almost gave this book 3 or 3 1/2 stars, but I settled on 4 stars because the whole idea of vacationing on a houseboat was just fantastic! What a great concept, and what fun!! And I love how the children (though perhaps Henry is too old to be called a "child" now) continue to be so self-sufficient and resourceful.
All the characters are still rather one-dimensional, except for Benny, who seemed remarkably well-developed in contrast with his brother and sisters and grandfather. In this book, he was funny, enthusiastic, inquisitive, thoughtful, friendly, sensitive, compassionate, and not at all shy. Much of this book was so focused on Benny that at times it almost seemed like this was his adventure, and the rest of the family just tagged along.
The mystery involved two strange men, and it did seem a little too coincidental that the Alden family just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get involved in this case. But that's okay, that's just how mystery stories are, I guess. The mystery also turned out to be a bigger deal than I expected, involving policemen and real "bad guys" and everything.
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