Can-Do Gumshoe: Shark Detective by Jessica Olien

SHARK LIVED ALONE IN A HOTEL ROOM IN THE CITY.

HE LOVED WATCHING DETECTIVE SHOWS.

AT NIGHT HE DREAMED THAT HE WAS A DETECTIVE.

And then lonely Shark spots a poster advertising a reward for finding a lost cat.

HE KNEW WHAT HE HAD TO DO...
HE WOULD BECOME... SHARK DETECTIVE!

In trench coat and deerstalker, with magnifying glass in hand, Shark sets out to investigate. He researches in the library and practices Tai Chi in private. With a copy of the lost kitty poster in hand, he sets out to question potential witnesses in the neighborhood. He has a little problem getting witnesses to open up to him:

"SHARK!

DON'T EAT ME!" THEY SCREAM.

SHARK WAS BEGINNING TO THINK THAT HE WASN'T CUT OUT TO BE A DETECTIVE.

But as the defective would-be detective heads home to his hotel, he gets a break in the case. Down a dark alley he hears a sad "Meow!" It's the missing cat! And when he tells the wandering kitty that he is a detective on his case, the kitty (conveniently named Watson) is overjoyed for help with the mystery of his missing mouse.

"A DETECTIVE! THAT'S WHAT I NEED.

If a shark in a Sherlock deerstalker isn't goofy, I don't know what is. Jessica Olien's just-published Shark Detective! (Balzer and Bray, 2015) has this unlikely gumshoe searching the urban cityscape for a lost kitty cat (with mouse toy) in a classic movie-trope-filled take on finding a missing cat, a sidekick, and career all in Shark's first case. There's a satisfying solution to the story, but the real fun is in cartoonist Olien's choice illustrations of lonely guy Shark scarfing chips and watching endless film noir detective flicks in his fleabag hotel, Investigator Shark attempting to question, um, reluctant witnesses, and Sherlock Shark and Watson hanging out their shingle, sleuths together.

CAT AND SHARK--DETECTIVES