Half-Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer

Twelve-year-old Fletcher Moon is a certified private investigator and he is extremely proud of his detective badge. Arrogant and a stickler for the rules, Fletcher soon finds himself breaking his own rules after he is hired by classmate April Devereux to investigate a theft. Soon Fletcher is assulted, accused of a serious crime, and hiding out with the Sharkeys- the local crime family that he was investigating. In order to clear his name, Fletcher must work with the Sharkeys to solve the string of strange crimes that have been occuring in the community. Colfer's newest work pales in comparison to his Artemis Fowl series. In true Colfer style, Half-Moon contains a large cast of characters, but most of these characters are only shallowly developed and kind of unbelievable. Situations that Fletcher gets himself into feel forced and unrealistic (escaping the hospital after a serious injury, hacking the police database, etc.). The story moves along quickly with lots of action and the solution to the mystery is not extremely obvious or predictable. Hints abound that this will turn into a series.