Gr 2--5--Mystery and pranks abound in Angleberger's second graphic novel (after The Sewer Rat Stink) that reimagines the best-selling series about rodent reporter Geronimo Stilton. Geronimo, his cousin Trap, and his sister Thea attend a mystery dinner at Creepella's spooky castle, where guests must decipher a series of gross clues to find a missing golden coffin. Though Geronimo does not want to win the coveted trip to Transratania with Creepella, he works hard to solve the mystery in the hopes of ending the increasingly creepy dinner as soon as possible. The short chapters full of colorful, messy, free-style art keep the narrative flowing. Young readers with a taste for gross-out humor and mischief will enjoy the increasingly disgusting dishes that serve as clues, as well as the different pranks that Creepella's nephews play on Geronimo. VERDICT An amusing read that will appeal the most to "Geronimo Stilton" fans.

A missing coffin isn't the only mystery on Geronimo Stilton's plate. Moldy mozzarella! In the wake of a pretend (or perhaps real!) heist, a mystery-themed dinner at Creepella Cacklefur's castle quickly devolves into a mad rush from one hidden clue to the next. This is punctuated by courses ranging from toad slime and kraken tentacles to mystery giblets on a stick, all dished up by guest chef Boffo Flambé. There are also encounters with werecanaries and a horde of howling werewolf slugs, not to mention moat slime, cave slime, and (perhaps worst of all) sloth snot sorbet for dessert. (Readers will sympathize with our hero's reluctance to partake, a running gag throughout.) Alert readers will doubtless detect a theme, and Angleberger's just the one to amplify it with big sequential panels both decked out in loud colors and packed with a rodent cartoon cast that is drawn with manic energy and, often, covered in gooey gloobs. "I had slime for dinner," Geronimo Stilton laments. "Now slime is having me for dinner!" Based on an episode published in Italy but not in the U.S. and so new even to series fans on this side of the Atlantic, the latest graphic caper from the mild-mannered journalist/sleuth will slide off the shelves whenever a slightly scary tale or, for that matter, a general grossfest is in order. Get set for gags aplenty…and not just the visual sort. (Graphic mystery. 7-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.