The Case of the Marmalade Cat

Joan Buchanan is a writer, storyteller and instructor and author of
Taking Care of My Cold.

This comic juvenile novel may be considered suitable for 8- to
11-year-olds. Set in Vancouver, the story features children who take
active parts in solving a mystery.

Clarice decides to start a detective agency in her father’s garden
shed. Her friend, Sadie, becomes her helper and so does Brick, a “thin
boy with spiky yellow hair.” Miss Parsnip gives them their first case
when she asks them to find her marmalade cat. Sadie is convinced that
Miss Parsnip is a witch, but Clarice dismisses the idea.

The details of how Clarice goes about setting up her detective agency
will be interesting to children. Also appealing is that the children
themselves are in charge. Comic episodes include the “Fudge Shop
lady” in Granville Island Market, who removes her free samples when
the detectives come back for more. Yet some of the humor may escape the
intended audience: for instance, Clarice claims that Sherlock Holmes
wrote the famous detective books and Sadie corrects her, saying that Dr.
Watson wrote them.

Midtext the action seems slow. Also, logic and realism are strained in
sections, notably where lobsters escape their tanks and flow out the
shop door into the bay. Such unevenness may create disbelief or
confusion.