DETECTIVE STANLEY AND THE MYSTERY AT THE MUSEUM

A canine gumshoe has a case to solve.

The newly retired Detective Stanley has just sat down to a stack of fresh pancakes when a mysterious letter arrives. The director of Narlybone Museum, Jane Rosenbaum the cheetah, needs his help with a theft. He heads over to find the museum in disarray, and an early piece of evidence points to Stanley as the thief. He’s soon arrested and taken to prison. Stanley must crack the case—his very freedom depends on it. This Poirot-esque pooch quietly uses his powers of observation to gather evidence until the climactic scene in which he elegantly ties everything together. Bustling, precisely constructed panels give the settings plenty of life and personality. The museum is full of homages to well-known artists; a work of art by “Bleat” Mondrian is an especially winsome addition. The scenes are bursting with other eye-catching details, particularly those in the prison: A penguin inmate can be seen giving a bear roommate a heart tattoo, while in another cell, a lion lifts weights. Like any good mystery, this one contains plenty of hints for readers to notice, especially on a reread. Spiteful Superintendent Shiro, who’s long resented Stanley, helps stack the deck against our clever hero in an almost cheerfully challenging way. The book concludes with some context about oil paintings, playfully presented inside modernist rectangles of color.

The arrival of a plucky new detective on the scene is cause for celebration.