Nate the Great hates mushy stuff. But when he spies a big red paper heart taped to the outside of Sludge's doghouse, Nate knows he must help out his favorite pooch. Wh has left Sludge a secret valentine? It's a mystery until Nate finds out his friend Annie is missing a valentine. The case seems easy. Nate is relieved. No more mushy stuff. That's what he thinks. From Booklist Gr. 2-3. In this, his sixteenth book, kid detective Nate the Great tells how he solved two cases at once with the help of his faithful dog Sludge. First case: Who put a valentine ("I LOVE SLUDGE MORE THAN FUDGE") on Sludge's doghouse? Second case: Who swiped the valentine Annie was making for her little brother? Clothed in deerstalker and trench coat, Nate visits the scenes of the crimes, gathers clues, interviews witnesses, eats pancakes, and puts his little gray cells to work to solve the mysteries. In the end, Nate retreats to Sludge's doghouse to avoid receiving a mushy valentine. Nate makes a great narrator, his clipped prose mimicking that of the hard-boiled detective genre, providing short, simple sentences for beginning readers, and setting up the deadpan humor. Simont's expressive drawings, tinted with watercolor washes, illustrate the characters and the action with finesse and restraint. A most appealing choice for Valentine's Day reading. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Carolyn Phelan