The Mystery of the Missing Falls: The Kingswell Kid Detectives Book 1

Authors: Jen Weaver and Gayle Veitenheimer

Publisher: Kregel Publications (2026)

ISBN: 978-0825452864

Age Range: Ages 8–12 (192 pages)

Series: The Kingswell Kid Detectives — Book 1

Synopsis:

Luka and Ember are ready to put their new detective agency on the map, and the town’s oldest unsolved mystery might be just the case to do it. When cousins Jake and Callie — who are at odds with each other — join the investigation, the young detectives set out to uncover the truth behind the missing falls, help mend an age-old family feud, and discover an unexpected tool along the way: prayer.

Blending high-stakes sleuthing and page-turning adventure with the questions kids really ask about God, The Mystery of the Missing Falls invites young readers to discover that prayer is more than talking to God — it’s part of an ongoing relationship with a God who speaks, listens, and meets them in everyday life.

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About the Authors

Jen Weaver is a Bible teacher, podcast host of Good God Talks, and founder and executive director of Life with God Ministries. She’s also a Maxwell Leadership Certified Team speaker, trainer, and coach, and she writes for the YouVersion Bible app. She’s the author of A Wife’s Secret to Happiness and A Beckoning to Wonder.

Find her at thejenweaver.com.

Gayle Veitenheimer is a writer, Bible teacher, speaker, blogger, and host of The Christian Grandparenting Podcast. She earned her Master of Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Find her at gayleveitenheimer.com.

Learn more about the series at kingswellkids.com.

FTC Disclosure

I am participating in a sponsored blog tour, in accordance with FTC guidelines.

How Two Authors Co-Write a Series Together

by Gayle Veitenheimer

Two authors. Four books. In two years.

As Jen and I sat across from each other at critique group, we never thought we’d be here.

Jen was the women’s nonfiction writer. The poet. Published.

I was one of several kid lit writers in the group. Unpublished.

Jen approached me after their family experienced a significant loss. Her boys had questions. When she couldn’t find the book she wanted to answer those questions, Jen asked if I wanted to collaborate. We partnered to create an engaging mystery with spiritual content that flowed naturally. Real faith in real life in real time. A year later, we found ourselves with a four-book contract for the Kingswell Kid Detective series, middle grade mysteries with a faith component.

Bones and Muscles

In the earliest drafts, I do bones. Jen does muscles. Jen has a lot of experience with personality tests, which she uses to develop spreadsheets full of character information. Spreadsheets give me a stomachache. I lean toward beat sheet plot points, hiding clues in plain sight, and a thick, five-subject, college-ruled spiral notebook.

Zooming

In the editing and revision stage, we Zoom. A lot. For hours at a time. Our best work comes when we collaborate. We’ll get to a spot that Jen sees one way and I see another. Then, we figure out how to meld the two. Right there. On the spot. We hash it out. Sometimes, it’s like working a puzzle. We move words, phrases, even paragraphs around. Sometimes we create new material. Sometimes we cut. Chapter by chapter, we get it done.

The Secret Weapon

When the Kingswell Kid Detectives open their agency and tackle their town’s oldest mystery, Ember reaches for a secret weapon: Prayer. Time for some insider scoop. Our secret weapon is prayer too. We begin every Zoom call with prayer. Every. Single. One. Did I mention we Zoom? A lot.

And God shows up. In Book 2, we were ready for additional spiritual content when I decided to do another read-through first. And there it was. A thread God had already woven in. I called Jen immediately. We chucked our notes and followed His direction. He’s provided other things too. A needed contact, like the Cherokee sensitivity reader and pastor (Book 1) or the bat expert (Book 3). Plot points. Twists. Grace with each other when the melding is messy.

The Messiness

And it does get messy.

Our skill sets, methods, and seasons of life are very different.

Jen is techy. She builds websites (kingswellkids.com), could teach classes on social media, and brings a marketing mindset to every piece of content we create. I’m old school. I write longhand. I dictate into my computer. I take field trips.

I’m an active CrossFitter who loves to hike. Jen? Not so much. When I invited Jen on a research trip to the Grand Canyon for Book 3, she declined. Good call. My guide picked me up at 5:30 am. We hiked ten miles and finished around 3:00 pm. When the AllTrails app lists a hike as strenuous, they mean it.

Jen has two young boys at home and is homeschooling this year. I’m a grandparent. My husband and I are empty nesters. We have six grandkids with three on the way.

Jen is the Spreadsheet Queen. And that’s good, because there are fifty million things to track. But spreadsheets make my stomach hurt. I had to figure out how to make it work for me. Old-school style.

How Two Authors Co-Write a Series

Our different seasons and skill sets give strength to our stories.

Because, here’s the deal. Jen and I are Bible teachers. Not the academic, book-knowledge kind of teaching, but the real-life application kind that helps you experience God for yourself. Both of us want to honor God in the process. Both of us want to see kids come to know God now, not when they’re in their 40s, 50s, or 60s.

Prayer worked for Luka and Ember in The Mystery of the Missing Falls, and it works for us.

Giveaway Details

Calling all junior detectives! Follow along on this virtual book tour and enter to win one of five copies of The Mystery of the Missing Falls by Jen Weaver and Gayle Veitenheimer. Click the book above to enter.