Review by Frank Plowright

Miss Cat is an absolute delight. It’s one of those all-ages stories mixing talking animals with people, in this case a young girl detective in a hoodie with cat ears. It’s handled in such a matter of fact way it causes no eyelids to be batted.

When we meet Miss Cat she already has a reputation due to uncovering the Secret of the Octopus Six, so when approached to locate a missing canary she asks all the questions learned at Detective School and sets about her business.

Jean-Luc Fromental mixes blocks of text with illustrations and comics storytelling, although the text doesn’t exceed the word count of narrative captions supplied by prolix comic writers. The tone is extremely important, and it’s a shame no translator is credited, as they’ve excelled at supplying a very English eccentricity to a project that deliberately mixes and matches cultures through the use of unfamiliar terms and accented letters not used in English. The local currency, for instance, is the krøtz, and the local paper the Daily Døtti.

While the text definitely sets the tone, the real charm is supplied by Joëlle Jolivet’s illustrations. They’re a seemingly effortless mix of an industrial town with magic and an octopus serving at a milk bar. It’s simple and utterly adorable, and even includes a puzzle or two for younger readers, such as trying to figure out exactly where a well hidden Miss Cat is. Under Jolivet’s deft hand, a strange world is made to seem absolutely normal.

What a start to a series, and The Gnome’s Nightmare is also available.