The author... knows that girls in their early teens like horses, slumber parties and boys. They are concerned about the environment, they compete with other girls, want their own way, and enjoy solving puzzles and problems. [Caroline Rennie] Pattison has assembled all the right ingredients for a juvenile mystery.
***/4 Recommended
CM Magazine
The Whole Entire, Complete Truth is the debut novel of a mystery series for teens, and it's a fun book. Sarah Martin, the feisty heroine, tells the story in the form of a report to her policeman father about why she disobeyed him and regularly visited a farm where mysterious - and ultimately, dangerous - things are going on. 'Guess what Dad?' she writes. 'It was because of you that I became suspicious of Mr. Braemarie in the first place.' But also because she is a really snoopy young woman, quick to do what she is told not to do, especially if no good reason is given.
Sarah is another of the new, up-to-the minute Nancy Drews of our time, and a very welcome addition to the group.
Star Phoenix
Pattison has created a lively, engaging character in Sarah Martin, a grade nine student whose parents have dragged her away from her perfectly happy life in Mississauga to move to "Sticksville" in Muskoka. Her father is an OPP detectve who wanted to leave the busy city. Within the first few pages we learn that Sarah has her father's nosy detective spirit. She's also smart, funny and not exactly a goody-two-shoes...
Following in the feisty footsteps of such female heroines as Trixie Belden or, more recently, Alice MacLeod, Sarah ignores all direct orders and sticks her nose where it doesn't belong. Hilarity and misunderstandings eventually lead... into a very dangerous situation, as should happen in any detective novel worth its salt. Hurray for Sarah Martin and her Mysteries! We eagerly await the second installment.
Forest Heights Community News
A good old-fashioned teen mystery, this is set in Muskoka, and is such a great start for a first novel that one can only look forward to future output. It's well-structured, nicely paced and highly entertaining. The plot is exciting and believable. We need more of the same.
The National Post
I enjoyed reading this suspense filled mystery and the book was glued into my hands from start to finish. I recommend girls from ten to twelve read this tension filled novel. The exciting story line introduced factual tidbits about the confidentially of police work and stirred them into a delicious story. The ending holds a delightful and entirely unexpected surprise that will be appreciated by everyone. The character's curiosity and mistakes were easy to connect with and Caroline Rennie Pattison made them very believable. Some parts could have used more challenging vocabulary for the age group, but overall it was a wonderful read. I rate The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth four stars.
Sarah's Stars
Fast-paced and suspenseful, the story -- with its central father-daughter relationship -- confidently sets up the Sarah Martin Mysteries series, of which this is to be the first. The sister-brother relationship, both competitive and protective, is also ripe for continuing development. For "whole entire and complete" truths, the kids' accounts of events differ amusingly.
Times-Colonist, The