Last Panda Standing

March 1, 2015
You don't need a gun in Kalamazoo City. When a candidate for mayor is attacked by a masked intruder, the weapon is a boomerang. And when the Kalamazoo police squad takes on a gang of criminals, they're all throwing boomerangs. That gives the story a genteel, civilized feel, but sometimes the device gets a little silly. Near the climax, Detective Zengo-who's guarding the candidate-is grabbed by a thug and feels "the cold steel of a boomerang, placed at his temple." Of course, in a novel in which the assailant is a squirrel and the candidate is a panda, a boomerang doesn't seem that odd. Most of the time, the story isn't nearly silly enough. For a long stretch in the middle of the book, the detectives do nothing but tour a factory. It's remarkably dull even though they're variously disguised in wigs, cowboy boots, and a purple velvet sweatsuit. The small touches do work, like a business called Frank's Franks and a five-star nightclub that serves root beer floats. It's all a little quaint, like the old sitcoms where married couples slept in separate beds.In the end, readers may wish the book were a little more exciting and a little less genteel. (Mystery. 8-12)

March 1, 2015

Gr 3-5-Krosoczka brings his trademark whimsy to this animal-studded police procedural. The Platypus Police Squad faces yet another adventure when Detective Rick Zengo is tasked with protecting the life of mayoral candidate Frank Pandini Jr., who was recently attacked-and finding out who's to blame. With detective lingo, standard genre tropes, stock characters, and chapter headings with times and locations a la Law & Order, this light take on the hardboiled mystery is perfect for future fans of the genre.

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