When the children hear that Mr. Wood's cat, Spotzie, is missing, they immediately help out by putting up Lost Cat posters and going door-to-door with a photograph of the cat. The more they search, the more mysterious the situation becomes.

The book has its interesting and exciting parts, but the ending shows it to be a simple misunderstanding.Not the best...

This is the most boring book I have ever read! I loved the boxcar children books, and all of them I would rate better the 3 stars, but this one was so borring. MYSTERY ranch? What MYSTERY? The was no mystery in this book at all. The whole thing was just so borring. It's the worst boxcar book I have ever read, and I have read about 42 of their so far 87 books! It's just so borring.

This was the book where the Boxcar Children ate peas for dinner and went to bed at 8:00. They took an entire chapter to plan what they were going to do that day, instead of just doing it. I think this is the right book, but I don't remember because they were all so boring I forgot them. If you are looking for a series for your children to read, I would advise you to keep this out of children's reach. They may need psychiatric treatment after reading this bore of a lifetime. Nothing worth your time is in this book, except that going to bed at 8:00 was a good laugh. --Andy, 12 years old

Why isn't this book as good as the rest? I hated it when i was little, much as I loved the rest of the original series. Years have passed since then and I read it again and it's not so bad. But the other reviewers are correct in the fact that this is no mystery, really.

As for the purpose of this book in the scheme of the entire series, it's actually very important. This book is the important link between books 3 and the rest of the series. This book introduces Aunt Jane, a very important role in the future of the children, and it sets the groundwork for book 5, "Mike's Mystery", which takes place on the same ranch some time later. And book 5 is the springboard for Mike to be more important in later adventures. So there is a purpose to this book.

I can't really recommend it though. But any child who wants to read the whole series should not skip this book - it's still part of the experience, no matter how dull it may seem, and it's really not THAT bad.

This book was very good, but I think it needed more action in it. It got kind of boring, but it was a good book. It needed some more story to it to.

I really liked Benny uncovers a mystery and I think you will too. Just take my advice. Don't expect too much excitement. I recommend this book to kids who like excitement and surprises!

This book was a terrible disappointment. It was my son's first "Chapter Book" and almost put him off reading forever. There is no plot, the premise is absurd and one cannot tell one character from another as they are so poorly developed. It was required summer reading for his school and I thought we'd never get through it.

I had heard this was a wonderful series; perhaps we just chose the worst of the lot.

It is a mystery in the sense that the children do not know wholeaves them messages,but that's about it all.Nothing is happening thatmakes the story really keep the reader in suspense.

I thought this book Was so boring! There wasn't even to solve.If you read this book prepared to be bored.

These books really have no meaning. There isn't any depth to the characters or plot. I wouldn't recommend these books to anyone.

The characters are less than one dimensional. The plot is under-under-under-developed. Please, stop writing.