When Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose visit a dude ranch in Montana, they find themselves with another mystery to solve, this one involving the theft of money from the ranch's safe and of a large gold nugget that Josh had found.

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose investigate the theft of a great deal of money from the belly of a nearly life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex model that their friend, Jud Wheat, is using to raise money for a dinosaur museum.

KC and her friend Marshall accompany KC's stepfather, the United States President, to remote Camp David, where they find clues that point to either ghostly or criminal activity.

"Mr. Paskey, owner of the Book Nook, plays an April Fools' Day prank on Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. They hatch a plan to get back at him, but then the bookstore is robbed--no joke! Can the kids track down the crook? Or will this April Fools' be an April fail?"--

The absent author: Dink Duncan and his two friends investigate the apparent kidnapping of famous mystery author Wallis Wallace. The bald bandit: Third-grader Dink and his detective friends hope to receive a big reward by finding the person whose video recorder picked up a picture of the local bank robber. The canary caper: Dink and his friends investigate why pets, like Mrs. Davis's canary, Mozart, are mysteriously disappearing all over town.