I hesitated briefly before deciding to ask to review this book. I knew going into it that it was in a style I wasn't particularly familiar with or drawn to but, well, how could I resist that smiling Shiba Inu face grinning out at me on the cover. I'm glad I didn't turn away. While I did stumble over the Japanese names, I enjoyed the story and found the artwork interesting. The fact I could identify with the young, fifth-grade Hinata's shyness and uncertainty made it all the easier. Yep, I was the shy kid. His friend Mayuka is anything but shy, however, and would have left me exhausted. She's wonderfully caring but, oh, my, so very impulsive, not to mention she has this habit of speaking without thinking. That's surely not a good trait for even a kid detective to have.
They do have a secret weapon, however. Hinata is given a retired police dog with the not-even-close-to-Japanese sounding name of Chris. Chris' career as a police dog was cut short, however, due to developing a phobia to insects after a painful sting to his sensitive nose. As a result, he comes to live with Hinata, whose parents run the local vet clinic. There's a side-story to that development but I'll leave it to readers to find on their own. Let's just say, it does tie into the story involving largely Hinata, Mayuka, and Chris.
I won't give away any more of the plot as it's obvious from the title that it's connected to a jewelry robbery. How the hesitant, thoughtful Hinata and Mayuka work together, utilizing Chris's specially trained skills is fun to read. True, they're "kid detectives", but somehow their strengths seem to mesh well, even if I did want to yank Mayuka back somehow through the pages more than once. That said, it made it all the more fun watching the opposites combine forces with Chris' adept skills of tracking and, let's call it, dog sense. Thanks #NetGalley and #YenPress - JY for introducing me to them. Much to my surprise given my reluctance going into the story, I'm looking forward to their next adventure.
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