Haunted Toolshed (Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective Series #1)

Why are cakes vanishing into thin air? How can a mailbox disappear without a trace? When did something evil move into Mr. Asher's toolshed?

Strange and unexplained things are happening on Baker Street after dark, and Joe Sherlock must come face-to-face with the things that go bump in the night. Even though a cold tingle of terror gallops down his spine like a herd of wild gophers, Joe is determined to solve the case — and have his bundt cake, too.

Publishers Weekly

This farcical romp launches the Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective series and marks Keane's children's book debut. Appropriately known by his surname alone, the boy narrator declares, "I was born with a natural gift for solving mysteries." Perhaps, yet this slapstick-laced story of his first case reveals some of Sherlock's bumbling moves, many of which are certainly chuckle-worthy. A perplexed neighbor hires Sherlock to get to the bottom of some curious goings-on: moaning noises emanate from his toolshed, and a bundt cake baked by the man's mother (who suffers from a case of flatulence) has mysteriously disappeared from the kitchen-as has his mother's glass eye. Sherlock, equipped with his sister Hailey's "Girl Chat Sleepover backpack" and matching walkie-talkie, sets off into the night to track down the culprit. His overactive imagination kicks in, and he suspects the Grim Reaper is tapping him on the back and that a Tyrannosaurus rex is going to snatch him up (and swallow him whole "like a Swedish meatball"). As Keane's comically convoluted plot proceeds, Hailey delivers some of the liveliest lines. Kids looking for a robust mystery may want to venture elsewhere, but reluctant readers will welcome the brief chapters (presented in large type), zany half-tone spot art (also by Keane) and zippy pace. More of Sherlock's shenanigans fill The Neighborhood Stink (0-06-076187-3; paper 0-06-076186-5), due the same month. Ages 7-10. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Dave Keane grew up with six brothers, making him an expert on all things sloppy. When his mom made sloppy joe sandwiches, Dave always got the nastiest dribble stains on his T-shirt—which he'd wear like a badge of honor. Today he is a stubbornly sloppy dad and the author and illustrator of the Joe Sherlock, Kid Detective series. Dave and his neat wife spend their days picking up after their sloppy son and his two slightly less sloppy older sisters. They live in rather tidy northern California.