cbr16bingo Part One
Nancy Spector, Monster Detective 1: The Case of the Missing Spot by Stephen W Martin and illustrated by Linh Pham was a win from the publisher and sent to me as an online reader copy. I had forgotten I had signed up for and/or requested it, but it was a delightful surprise as I came away from it with a bit of a giggle, and a jonesing for the second read.
The only bump was that some of the information we are given makes the book feel like book two and not the first. This is because we are talking about past cases, people Nancy knows and a secret/important fact about her parents that is just tossed in, as if you were already aware. Therefore, things are more of a rating of 3.5 and not a pure 4. But as the title says, it is the first book in this series by Martin. However, for the 7 to 10 aged crowd, it is a pure four (even a five). The aimed reader will love the colors that are bold, bright and that things are both a little busy and minimal concurrent to each other. Or at least I did, even if they are a bit CandyLand-looking sweet.
Things are just your typical mystery, but has an overly modern feeling and is fun to follow along with and root for our gal Nancy. Nothing OMG but I do like it. I guess I should have started with the case itself. The Invisible Man’s invisible dog, Spot, is missing. And Nancy is just the gal to find them. That humor is throughout the adventures of Nancy, her grumpy dog Jinx and the invisible man himself, Professor Giffin. Things are fast paced and just, again, fun! Granted, it might not be in my Top 10 liked books but for sure it’s in my Top 25 (So Far) of 2024. (Due September 2024 and read via an online reader copy.)
