Inspector Flytrap

Starred review from May 23, 2016
In this uproariously funny illustrated chapter book, the husband-and-wife team of Angleberger and Bell (Crankee Doodle) highlight the outrageous investigations of a Venus flytrap detective—think Inspector Clouseau as carnivorous plant. Inspector Flytrap won’t take just any mystery: it needs to be a “big deal” mystery. Luckily, he gets a few: Lulu Emu at the art museum is curious about a mysterious blob on a da Vinci painting; Koko Dodo’s bakery suddenly stinks; and a rose has been kidnapped from Mimi Kiwi at Snooty la Tooty Gardens. When Inspector Flytrap’s grouchy assistant, Nina the Goat, isn’t eating everything in sight (including evidence) she pushes his flowerpot on a skateboard to the scene of each investigation, however dangerous that may be (“She just shoves me out into the street, right in front of speeding traffic!”). Abundant punning and absurdity, Bell’s equally raucous cartooning, and the trail of destruction that Nina and the inspector leave in their wake make this series opener a “big deal” winner. Book two, Inspector Flytrap in the President’s Mane Is Missing, is available simultaneously. Ages 6–9. Agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary.

May 15, 2016
Inspector Flytrap is here to solve your "BIG DEAL" mysteries...foolishness in every case file guaranteed.Inspector Flytrap may be a Venus flytrap, but the carnivorous plant is also trying to become the greatest private detective ever grown. Inspector Flytrap lives in a pot and can leave the office only with the help of assistant Nina the Goat, always hungry and frequently unimpressed. She puts the inspector's pot on a skateboard and pushes it around town. Calls come from many of the town's animal denizens, but the inspector spurns small cases. Lulu Emu's request for assistance at the art museum seems important enough to put the inspector on the case--but contrary Nina's fondness for going the wrong way down busy, one-way streets makes for a hair-raising start. At the museum, Lulu takes them to the Top Secret Art Lab, where they are shown the only flower painting Leonardo da Vinci ever painted: there's a mysterious yellow glob stuck to the masterwork. Nina tastes it. And after a few simple questions, the intrepid plant detective solves the explosive (and slightly gross) case. Angleberger and Bell team up for a goofy, easy chapter-book series kickoff. The cases (in addition to the Leonardo enigma, there's a case involving a fetid cookie factory and an AWOL rose) are full of silly characters (and solved with silly solutions), and Bell's ample cartoon line drawings pair perfectly.Three cases and lunch! What more could you need? Happily, Volume 2, The President's Mane Is Missing, publishes simultaneously. (Humor. 6-9)

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May 1, 2016

Gr 2-5-Only Angleberger and Bell could make a Venus flytrap and a goat a viable combination as a mystery-solving duo, as they do in this heavily illustrated new chapter book series. Inspector Flytrap (never "Mister Flytrap," as he often corrects clients) and his goat assistant, Nina, run Flytrap Detective Agency. Flytrap's interested only in solving "BIG DEAL" mysteries, while Nina seems motivated purely by her ravenous appetite-indeed, she has a bad habit of occasionally eating evidence. The potted inspector makes his way about town on a skateboard, pushed by his hungry, sarcastic goat colleague. Each short section focuses on a different mystery (a blob on a da Vinci painting, a stinky shoe on top of a cookie bakery, and a missing rose at Snooty a la Tooty Gardens) that ends with hilarious results.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2016
Grades 1-3 At Flytrap Detective Agency, Inspector Flytrap awaits phone calls for BIG DEAL mysteries. Though a Venus flytrap may not appear to be an obvious choice for a detective, he's got a necktie, a skateboard, and an assistant named Nina, who happens to be a goatclearly, this plant is a professional. Angleberger established his aptitude for finding kids' funny bones with his Origami Yoda series, and he doesn't hold back in this wacky new series for elementary schoolers. This slim volume contains three mini mysteries, all comically illustrated by Newbery Honor Book author Bell (El Deafo, 2014). Inspector Flytrap's first case takes him to an art museum, the second to a bakery, and the third to a botanical garden. Running gags and gross-out humor will keep readers in stitches, with Nina acting as straight goat to the more animated detectivewhen she is not eating the evidence, that is. Bell's cartoonish illustrations appear on almost every page, ramping up the laughs. This riotous read publishes simultaneously with book two in the series, Inspector Flytrap in the President's Mane Is Missing. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-sellers in their own rights, Angleberger and Bell are sure to draw a crowd as a creative team. Plus, they are touring!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)