Theater Mystery Book Review: Joey Fly 2

Joey Fly Private Eye 2 in Big Hairy Drama
Written by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Neil Numberman. Henry Holt & Co., 2010)
Insect noir adventure in which a private eye who has the compound eyes of a fly and who is a magnet for atrocious puns (“I do believe your fly is down.” “So I was.”) solves a crime in an old playhouse. The plot hinges on quaint theatrical superstitions and devices, and comes off pretty knowledgeable about the field. At 128 pages and averaging seven cartoon panels to a page, this is pretty dense for a kid’s graphic novel. So don’t share it with them. (My own daughters, who are 7 and 9 and widely read, found it “creepy”). A good gift for theater pests of most any other age.