His bright yellow trench coat lighting up the tenebrous mean streets of Motham City, crack gumshoe Ace Lacewing swoops into action when Hive Rise Honey Company’s Queenie Bee goes missing. Could the culprit be Smooch the Assassin Bug? Unsavory honey magnate Al the Drone? With help from police sergeant Zito the Mosquito and considerably more from blue-winged bombshell Xerces Blue, Ace proceeds to find out—though not before a visit to the deadly Beetle Zoo and some close encounters with praying mantis thugs nearly put Lacewing’s lights out for good. Biedrzycki depicts his chitinous crew in high-gloss digital glam, strews puns and sight gags with abandon and finally sends his hardboiled hero off for a well-earned, post-dénouement platter of aphids à la mode. Fans of Doug Cushman’s Mystery at the Club Sandwich (2004) and similar capers will happily sink their mandibles into this buggy brouhaha. (Picture book. 7-9)
