Jack P. McGurk is a ten-year-old boy detective who forms a detective agency called the  with his neighborhood friends.  The local police in their town are aware of the kids’ activities, and because the kids have successfully helped to catch criminals, the police have rewarded them for their work and support their organization.  In particular, the kids are friends with a police officer called Patrolman Cassidy and call on him when they need help from official law enforcement.

It’s a good idea to read the books in order because they build on each other.  People and situations from the early books are mentioned in later ones, so it can help to know when they were first introduced.  However, even if you do read the books out of order, you can still follow the stories because Joey Rockaway, who narrates all the stories, explains the background behind certain people or things when necessary.

There is also a kind of spin-off fantasy series with the same characters, where the members of the McGurk Organization travel through time and solve mysteries in the Middle Ages and Colonial America.

The author of the series, E. W. (Edmund Wallace) Hildick, also wrote The Ghost Squad Series and other books.

Members of the McGurk Organization:

Jack P. McGurk

The founder and leader of the McGurk Organization.  His middle initial ‘P’ stands for Perseverance, an old-fashioned name but one which is fitting for him.

Joey Rockaway

The secretary of the agency.  He keeps notes on all the cases and narrates all of the books.

Willie “The Nose” Sandowskey

Willie is known for his large, sensitive nose, which sometimes gives him clues to cases because he is good at recognizing smells.

Wanda Greig

A tall, athletic girl.

Gerald “Brains” Bellingham

The inventor of the group. In the early books, before the others invited him to join the agency, he was a rival for the group, creating mysteries that they had to solve.

Mari Yoshimura

Mari was the last to join the agency.  Her father is a wealthy man who owns an electronics company.  Her family moved to the United States from Japan, at least temporarily, while her father is opening and organizing an electronics factory in the United States.  She was first introduced to the McGurk Organization as Wanda’s pen pal.  She is a talented ventriloquist and owns a doll that looks like her. She is the group’s language expert and can tell when a person is lying by the way they speak.

Books in the series:

The Nose Knows (1974)

McGurk and his friends form a detective agency and hunt for a missing catcher’s mitt.

Deadline for McGurk (1974)

McGurk and his friends must find kidnapped dolls before it’s too late!

The Case of the Condemned Cat (1975)

A cat may be condemned to death unless the McGurk Organization can prove it didn’t kill a neighbor’s pet dove.

The Case of the Menaced Midget (1975)

The Case of the Nervous Newsboy (1976)

The McGurk Organization investigates a runaway newsboy.

The Great Rabbit Robbery (1977)

A member of the McGurk Organization is accused of stealing ornamental rabbits.

The Case of the Invisible Dog (1977)

“Brains” Bellingham, before he joins the McGurk Organization, tries to convince people that he has turned a dog invisible.

The Case of the Secret Scribbler (1978)

A strange message in a library book leads the kids to another mystery.

The Case of the Phantom Frog (1979)

Is a boy really turning into a frog?

The Case of the Treetop Treasure (1980)

A member of the organization is accused of theft.

The Case of the Snowbound Spy (1980)

A stranger recruits the McGurk Organization for what might really be industrial espionage.

The Case of the Bashful Bank Robber (1981)

The McGurk Organization helps the FBI to catch a bank robber.

The Case of the Four Flying Fingers (1981)

The McGurk Organization discovers that a group of children is helping a master thief.

The Case of the Felon’s Fiddle (1982)

A message in an old violin leads the McGurk Organization to a fortune in uncut diamonds.

McGurk Gets Good and Mad (1982)

Someone is sabotaging the McGurk Organzation’s open house!  But, who would do that and why?

The Case of the Slingshot Sniper (1983)

The McGurk Organization investigates vandalism.

The Case of the Vanishing Ventriloquist (1985)

Wanda’s pen pal, Mari, is visiting from Japan and wants to join the McGurk Organization.  At first, McGurk isn’t sure about it, but she proves valuable when the Organization begins investigating a case that actually turns out to center around Mari.

The Case of the Muttering Mummy (1986)

Strange things are happening at the local museum.  Has the mummy there really come back to life?

The Case of the Wandering Weathervanes (1988)

Someone is stealing . . . weathervanes?

The Case of the Purloined Parrot (1990)

The McGurk Organization investigates missing neighborhood pets.

The Case of the Desperate Drummer (1993)

The McGurk Organization has to help a famous drummer hide from dangerous people.

The Case of the Fantastic Footprints (1994)

Strange footprints have been appearing in wet cement around the neighborhood. Who is doing it?

The Case of the Absent Author (1995)

A famous mystery author disappears, and his agent hires the McGurk Organization to find where he hid his story manuscripts. Can they find the author as well?

The Case of the Wiggling Wig

McGurk is stuck at home with a broken leg, but he doesn’t have to go far to find his next mystery when there’s a robbery being plotted right next door.

McGurk Fantasies

There were a few books in the series which were fantasies involving time travel.

The Case of the Dragon in Distress (1991)

The McGurk Organization goes back in time to the Middle Ages when they use some mysterious walkie-talkies that they got used.

The Case of the Weeping Witch (1992)

The McGurk Organization goes back in time to Colonial America to save a young girl being tried for witchcraft

Hester Bidgood: Investigatrix of Evil Deeds (1994)

An independent book which does not involve the members of the McGurk Organization. The girl who was tried for witchcraft become an investigator in her own time.