Veteran platy-cop Corey O'Malley and hotshot rookie Rick Zengo temporarily split assignments when smooth-talking tycoon and mayoral candidate Frank Panini Jr. is repeatedly assaulted by masked squirrels. Could Panini's smooth campaign promise to eliminate nuts from Kalamazoo City's school and restaurant menus be a shell game? Joined by competent new colleague Jo Cooper, the billed boomerang wielders ultimately crack the case so they think. Signaling future episodes, Krosoczka dishes up a nutty twist in the final scene of this heavily illustrated caper.

The Platypus Police Squad is on the case again in this third mystery set in animal-inhabited Kalamazoo City. When a mayoral candidate, Frank Pandini, is attacked by boomerang, hardboiled platypus detective Rick Zengo is hired as the panda's bodyguard. Most of the fun lies in the old-fashioned crime-fighting tropes and silly gags. Black-and-white cartoons add to the charm.

Gr 3-5 Krosoczka brings his trademark whimsy to this animal-studded police procedural. The Platypus Police Squad faces yet another adventure when Detective Rick Zengo is tasked with protecting the life of mayoral candidate Frank Pandini Jr., who was recently attackedand finding out who's to blame. With detective lingo, standard genre tropes, stock characters, and chapter headings with times and locations &4; la Law &; Order , this light take on the hardboiled mystery is perfect for future fans of the genre.