Ron Roy (born April 29, 1940) is an American writer of children's fiction, primarily mysteries for young readers. He is best known for the series A to Z Mysteries (from 1997), Capital Mysteries (from 2001), and Calendar Mysteries (from 2009).

Ron Roy
Born (1940-04-29) April 29, 1940 (age 84)
Alma materUniversity of Connecticut (BA)
University of Hartford (MA)
OccupationFiction writer
Notable workA to Z Mysteries
Websiteronroy.com

Roy was born in Hartford, Connecticut, grew up in East Hartford, and has lived in Connecticut most of his life.[1] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Connecticut and his master's degree in early childhood education from the University of Hartford.[2] He taught fourth grade for ten years until he sold his first book in 1978 and became a full-time writer.[3] His first several books were unpaged picture books.

Selected works

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A to Z Mysteries

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The A to Z Mysteries are a series of chapter books for readers aged 6 to 9, comprising 26 books published from 1997 through 2005. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations and original cover art by John Steven Gurney, and redesigned cover art (2015) by Stephen Gilpin. In each book in the series, three kids named Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose solve a mystery set in their fictional home town of Green Lawn, Connecticut (and sometimes in other locations in the USA). The average page length of the text of each book is approximately 80 to 90 pages.

List of A to Z Mysteries books
# Title Published
1 The Absent Author 1997
2 The Bald Bandit 1997
3 The Canary Caper 1998
4 The Deadly Dungeon 1998
5 The Empty Envelope 1998
6 The Falcon's Feathers 1998
7 The Goose's Gold 1998
8 The Haunted Hotel 1999
9 The Invisible Island 1999
10 The Jaguar's Jewel 2000
11 The Kidnapped King 2000
12 The Lucky Lottery 2000
13 The Missing Mummy 2001
14 The Ninth Nugget 2001
15 The Orange Outlaw 2001
16 The Panda Puzzle 2002
17 The Quicksand Question 2002
18 The Runaway Racehorse 2002
19 The School Skeleton 2003
20 The Talking T-Rex 2003
21 The Unwilling Umpire 2004
22 The Vampire's Vacation 2004
23 The White Wolf 2004
24 The X'ed-Out X-Ray 2005
25 The Yellow Yacht 2005
26 The Zombie Zone 2005

Capital Mysteries

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The Capital Mysteries is a chapter book series for readers aged 6 to 9, comprising 14 books published from 2001 through 2012. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations by Timothy Bush and cover art by Greg Swearingen. In each book in the series, two kids named KC and Marshall solve a mystery set in and around their home city of Washington, D.C. The plots often involve the president himself.

List of Capital Mysteries books
# Title Published
1 Who Cloned the President 2001
2 Kidnapped at the Capital 2002
3 The Skeleton in the Smithsonian 2003
4 A Spy in the White House 2004
5 Who Broke Lincoln's Thumb? 2005
6 Fireworks at the FBI 2006
7 Trouble at the Treasury 2006
8 Mystery at the Washington Monument 2007
9 A Thief at the National Zoo 2008
10 The Election Day Disaster 2009
11 The Secret at Jefferson's Mansion 2009
12 The Ghost at Camp David 2010
13 Trapped on the DC Train 2011
14 Turkey Trouble on the National Mall 2012

Calendar Mysteries

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The Calendar Mysteries is a chapter book series for first and second graders, comprising 13 books published from 2009 through 2014. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations and cover art by John Steven Gurney. The main characters are cousins and younger siblings of Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose from the A to Z Mysteries series. The average page length of the text of each book is approximately 65 pages.

List of Calendar Mysteries books
# Title Published
1 January Joker 2009
2 February Friend 2009
3 March Mischief 2010
4 April Adventure 2010
5 May Magic 2011
6 June Jam 2011
7 July Jitters 2012
8 August Acrobat 2012
9 September Sneakers 2013
10 October Ogre 2013
11 November Night 2014
12 December Dog 2014
13 New Year's Eve Thieves 2014

A to Z Mysteries Super Editions

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The A to Z Mysteries Super Editions is a chapter book series for readers aged 6 to 9, published from 2006. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations and cover art by John Steven Gurney. A continuation of the popular original A to Z Mysteries series (the final volume of which was published in 2005), the Super Editions follow Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose as they travel to various locations around the US and solve mysteries. The average page length of the text of each book is approximately 130 pages.

List of A to Z Mysteries Super Edition books
# Title Published
1 Detective Camp 2006
2 Mayflower Treasure Hunt 2007
3 White House White-out 2008
4 Sleepy Hollow Sleepover 2010
5 The New Year Dragon Dilemma 2011
6 The Castle Crime 2014
7 Operation Orca 2015
8 Secret Admirer 2015
9 April Fools' Fiasco 2017
10 Colossal Fossil 2018
11 Grand Canyon Grab 2019
12 Space Shuttle Scam 2020
13 Crime in the Crypt 2021
14 Leopard on the Loose 2022

References

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  1. ^ Kochakian, Mary Jo (August 17, 1999). "Whodunit? Ron Roy". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  2. ^ "'A to Z Mysteries' children's author Ron Roy at Playhouse on Park". West Hartford News. 2011. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  3. ^ "About". ronroy.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
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