Rider Woofson & The PI Pack

Created by Felix Gumpaw

So, does this mean that detective fiction has finally, irretrievably gone completely to the dogs?

I mean, a crime solving pooch with his own series, loaded with more doggie puns than a hound dog has fleas?

Okay, maybe we should throw creator  a bone. These books are intended, after all, for kids.

I hope.

They certainly look like kids books–bright, full-colour illustrations (by Glass House Graphics) bleeding off every page, big bold easy-to-read-text and an occasional comic book layout to give it that hip, comic book vibe that’s currently in vogue for kids’ books (think Diary of a Wimpy Kid, etc.). I think the faux-pulp covers are just there to tempt the parents.

And there are no humans! The students at Pawston Elementary School are an anthropomorphic delight–a ragtag collection of dogs, cats, squirrels, turtles, bears, buffalos and the like, and RIDER WOOFSTON is “the greatest puppy detective in the whole school.”

At least he thinks he is.

Until he discovers that there are other super sleuths at school, and “plenty of pet-ty crime” to deal with, so what else can a poor dog do, but team up with the other pups to form The Pup Investigator Pack (the PI Pack, for short), the only detective agency in the entire school.

The crimes cover the gamut, from pencil theft and lunch larceny to Show’n’Tell shenanigans, but Rider and his pals, Rora Gooddog, Westie Barker, Ziggy Fluffenstuff and all the rest are neither tarnished nor afraid.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

According to his Amazon bio, “Felix Gumpaw (Really?) grew up reading kids’ books, so it makes sense that he’s writing them now. And when he isn’t writing books, he’s out solving mysteries around the city of Manhattan, where he lives.”

HMMMM…

  • Apparently, this is a reboot of an earlier series that started in 2016, written by Walker Styles, with drawings by Ben Whitehouse. This newer series seems to have been re-written, re-illustrated and re-formatted.

NOVELS

COLLECTIONS

  • Pup Detectives The Graphic Novel Collection #1 (2021) | Buy this book
    Collects The First Case, The Tiger’s Eye and The Soccer Mystery.
  • Pup Detectives The Graphic Novel Collection #2 (2022) | Buy this book
    Collects Ghosts, Goblins, and Ninjas!; The Missing Magic Wand and Mystery Mountain Getaway.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

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