The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves 2: S.O.S.

by Tom Phillips

Overview

The side-splitting second installment of a middle grade mystery series for fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events and Enola Holmes.

Hoping to intercept the Mauve Moth before they execute their next great heist, Inspector Toadius McGee and his protégé John Boarhog book passage on the H.M.R.A.S. Bouteille—a luxury cruise liner airship. But alas, there will be no clear skies ahead. A committee from the Society of Sleuths is also aboard, ready to put John through his first trial to gain full membership, despite Toadius’s objections. Furious with his mentor, John falls in with the Hive, a group of kids obsessed with using social media for fame. They see how valuable he is, even if Toadius doesn’t.

But when both the Mauve Moth and Shim-Sham resurface, each with their own nefarious aims, will the detective duo be able to see past their disagreements to, once again, save the day?

The second book in The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves series, S.O.S. is a hilarious, high-flying, heart-pounding mystery adventure readers won’t be able to put down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645951094
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	08/13/2024
Series:	The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves , #2
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.24(h) x 0.92(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Despite a lifelong struggle with dyslexia, Tom Phillips grew up with a passion for storytelling. He writes books that kids can enjoy on their own, but also read aloud and share, including the first book in the Curious League series, Egypt’s Fire. He’s had a long career as a writer and artist for clients such as HBO, Disney, and ABC. An armchair Sherlockian, Tom lives in Los Angeles with his lovely wife and his dog, Dr. Watson.

Editorial Reviews

"Soaring, silly, and stocked with detectives and criminal masterminds."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2023-05-09
A giant flying passenger liner bound for Brazil provides plenty of opportunities for apprentice sleuth John Boarhog, ward of legendary detective Toadius McGee, to show his talents.

In a second romp characterized by the frame narrator as true (“I have once again changed only the facts I didn’t like”) if deliciously over-the-top, the 12-year-old gumshoe-in-training finds himself struggling not only to counter the latest scheme of renowned thief Polly “Pickles” Cronopolis, but to prove himself both to a delegation from the Society of Sleuths and to his infuriatingly secretive guardian, Toadius. Both tasks are complicated by the presence aboard the palatial and, as swashbuckling Capt. Amelia Cloudhopper ominously puts it, “uncrashable,” H.M.R.A.S. Boutielle of renowned criminal mastermind Shim-Sham, a monkey recently escaped from imprisonment in New York’s maximum security Central Park Zoo. Not to mention, following a string of riotous melees and misadventures, an attack by sky pirates capped by a collision with an iceberg. Along with adding a racially diverse assortment of new adult characters to the array of magicians and circus performers introduced in the opener, Phillips gives his brown-skinned protagonist several new young friends and allies, including fabulously wealthy White-presenting Aussie fanboy Wembley Quokkas (and his loving mums) and Kana Rai, a circus performer of Japanese descent. Stay tuned for further feats of deduction and encounters with more fiendishly clever crooks.

Soaring, silly, and stocked with detectives and criminal masterminds…some of whom turn out to be both. (Detective fiction. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews