Mystery (and humor) mavens will eagerly await future cases.
Snoop Troop can solve the case…with a little help from readers.
Fourth-grader Logan Lang loves mysteries; she reads them, and she solves them. That’s why when she hears about mysterious doings at Hurling Rivers Amusement Park on her combination lunch box and police radio, she hotfoots it out there. Someone has stolen the merry-go-round. Logan starts her investigation, but Gustavo Muchomacho, an overeager boy from school, keeps sticking his nose (and his fake mustache) into things. The duo pool their talents just as the whole playground is stolen from the school, and they discover trained moles are behind the thefts…but who’s behind the trained moles? There’s no shortage of suspects, and readers get to guess based on presented evidence. Scroggs kicks off an interactive series of goofy mysteries with this heavily illustrated hybrid of graphic novel, mystery fiction and activity book. Logan regularly breaks the fourth wall to address her narrator and the audience. Readers are asked to sketch suspects (moles) and find evildoers (moles) in the illustrations. Twenty pages of extra activities (along with the admonishment to only write in the book if it belongs to you to avoid the wrath of librarians) follow the satisfyingly silly story.
Mystery (and humor) mavens will eagerly await future cases. (Graphic/mystery hybrid. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-316-24271-4
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A shelf below Blue Balliett’s art- and code-themed mysteries, but Encyclopedia Brown fans will enjoy following the detective...
In his third caper, a young New York sleuth with a photographic memory finds himself a target for revenge.
The appearance of fake bombs with cryptic—encrypted, as it turns out—messages for him at landmarks around the city tells Eddie that Lars, the international art thief stymied in Mystery on Museum Mile (2014), is back for a new heist and a spot of payback. And, rather than keeping Eddie in the loop, both his gorgeous new FBI bodyguard and surly police contact are steadfastly stonewalling him in order, they insist, to keep him safe. It doesn’t work, as, enlisting his ADHD computer-whiz sidekick, Jonah, to hack police files, Eddie gathers clues, solves codes, and by the climax has sketched out photorealistic portraits (supplied by Calo) of Lars and his entire gang. As with Volume 2, Mystery in Mayan Mexico (2015), Wells spins both a heavily contrived body of evidence and a coincidence-driven plotline. Since both the theft and subsequent arrests take place offstage, the actual crime fighting seems almost incidental to Eddie’s personal dramas. Still, the lad uses skills and smarts in credible ways to nab the bad guys, and the climax’s drama is enhanced by some narrowly averted violence. A new character, possibly Lars’ daughter, slips through the net to set up future cases.
A shelf below Blue Balliett’s art- and code-themed mysteries, but Encyclopedia Brown fans will enjoy following the detective work. (cryptography note) (Mystery. 9-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-58260-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Science and courage make for an appealing mystery for dog lovers.
A 13-year-old budding criminal analyst gets to go to forensics day camp in the summer and also finds a real mystery to crack.
Tabitha certainly knows what she wants to be when she grows up: a forensic scientist. She owns a copy of the Junior Encyclopedia of Forensic Science and knows the contents nearly by heart. At camp, it’s clear that Tabitha knows more than anyone. They have a crime to solve, one that has been staged by the forensics camp: discover who vandalized the school cafeteria kitchen. They interview the suspects on the list and take photos, measurements, and fingerprints as they learn the craft. Meanwhile, however, purebred dogs have begun disappearing across town, and the police don’t seem to be making those cases a priority. When the family dog of one of Tabitha’s campmates goes missing, she and the other kids team up to try to catch the dognapper using their new forensic skills. However, Tabitha and her friends might be getting themselves in over their heads and even into danger. Tabitha narrates, and Polak keeps the focus on her excitement as she works her way through not only evidence, but some new life lessons. Despite the big-city setting—Montréal—the cast does not appear to be notably diverse (or French).
Science and courage make for an appealing mystery for dog lovers. (Mystery. 8-11)Pub Date: March 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0979-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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