Chicagoland Detective Agency 2: The Maltese Mummy

(Paperback)

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Description

Continual requests from librarians for mysteries., Cast reflects the diversity of the Chicago area.

A friend has vanished, a mummy's amulet is missing, and there's a weirdo out there looking for human brains and hearts. The Chicagoland Detective Agency-run by Megan, Raf, and his talking dog Bradley-have more than enough cases on their hands (and paws). But Megan's too busy for private-detecting. Her haikus have won her tickets to meet the drop-dead gorgeous rock star Sun D'Arc. Raf is sure that Sun is too good not to be really bad. And what about Sun's suspiciously familiar manager, who looks just like the mad scientist/school therapist they foiled in their first case Or Jazmin, the pushy new girl at school Can Bradley pull his team together and sniff out what suspect goes with which case

Reviews

If Rob Reger's Emily the Strange accessorized, swept her bangs to the side, and got an extra-strength dose of perkiness, she would be very much like Megan Yamamura, one of the partners in the Chicagoland Detective Agency. Megan's adventures with Raf and his talking dog, Bradley, continue in this installment when a teen rock idol has a suspicious connection to a mummy at the museum's ancient Egyptian exhibition. While the characters are in high school and the black-and-white artwork at first glance seems to lean toward edgier fare, the Goth look is actually cheerful and supports the juvenile humor quite well. Examples of tween-centric touches include Bradley collapsing a dinosaur skeleton because he cannot resist a bone, riffs on Humphrey Bogart-inspired film noir, obvious red herrings, and an easily recognizable villain from the previous book. Those who want plots that are more Scooby Doo than Nancy Drew will enjoy this silly romp of a mystery. --School Library Journal

In this second volume in the Chicagoland Detective Agency graphic-novel series, teen sleuths Megan and Raf and their talking-dog partner, Bradley, get caught up in two seemingly unrelated happenings: the arrival of a rock idol and the disappearance of a mummy from the Art Institute. The story is a bit light on the detective front (the investigating primarily consists of always being where the villains are concocting their nefarious plans) but heavy on goofy-edged action and manga-inflected artwork. Another goodnatured adventure with a few nods to classic detective stories. --Booklist

The Chicagoland Detective Agency returns with another pseudoscientific, near-mystery graphic adventure. Self-absorbed but enthusiastic poet-cum-detective Megan has won tickets to a press conference held by goth-rocker Sun D'Arc; she's written hundreds of haiku dedicated to him and his dark, dreamy, depressing dirges. She asks Raf, self-described boy genius, to go with her, but he gets the flu. Since Bradley, their other partner, is an experimentally enhanced dog, Megan takes Raf's friend William. When Sun and his oddly familiar manager express interest in William and Megan catches Egyptian exchange student Jazmin lurking about the concert hall, she realizes something odd is definitely going on...then William disappears! Does this have anything to do with the mummy exhibit at the museum Can the CDA solve the case in time to save their friend Robbins' sophomore preteen detective effort (The Drained Brains Caper, 2010) is a tale that's light on mystery but makes up for it with age-appropriate edgy, sarcastic humor and pop-culture jibes. Page's black-and-white cartoon panels are full of pulpy action and visually exciting cinematography and include several 'screen shots' from MyBlogFace. Readers of book one will spot the villain long before the heroes do, making them feel extra smart. Good graphic fun. --Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Trina Robbins established herself during the underground com ix movement of the 1960s, and in the 1970s published the first all-woman comic book, It Ain't Me, Babe Comix, and the anthology Wimmen's Comix. She was a penciller on Wonder Woman in the 1980s, created the series Go Girl! with artist Anne Timmons for Image Comics, has written numerous nonfiction books for children and adults, and designed Vampirella's costume. She lives in San Franscico with her partner, comics artist Steve Leialoha.