Teddy and his parents have left Africa behind and have moved to work at FunJungle, America's greatest theme park. Teddy has the run of the place while his mother works with the gorillas and his father takes photographs. On this day, Teddy stumbles on the theme park's mascot, Henry the Hippo, belly up. Amidst the crowds of fun seeking families, Henry the Hippo has been murdered and all four thousand pounds of him is fully visible to the visitors.
The zoo owners insist on saying the hippo died of natural causes. But when the veterinarian, Doc, conducts an autopsy on Henry, he discovers the hippo has not died of natural causes: he's been the victim of foul play. Who would want to kill the hippo and give the place some bad publicity? Large Marge the security guard? Charlie Connor the midget clown? The Animal Liberation Front?
Enter Summer, the attractive daughter of the billionaire park owner. She joins Teddy in trying to find out who might have committed the crime.
Turns out there's quite a bit going on at the Park that the visitors know nothing about and for that matter that J.J. McCracken, Mr. Money himself, doesn't know about either even though he has surveillance cameras embedded in every building. The intriguing plot safaris along through the jungle of a colorful cast of characters and the hints of the attraction between Teddy and Summer. Great for kids who like to solve it themselves. 294 pages 978-1416987321 Ages 8-12
