Review by Ian Keogh

The first Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees was a resounding creative success. Sam Rose, owns the hardware store in the small town of Woodbrook, drawn by Patrick Horvath as a community of talking animals along the lines of those found in reassuring books for young children. The twist is her being a serial killer, although one who restricts her activities to the nearest big city. Rite of Spring opens with the city police no longer concerned about investigating the disappearance of someone we saw Sam kill last time. His sister, though, hasn’t given up on discovering the truth despite eight years having elapsed.

Because the idea of a serial killer in Toytown was so strong, there’s a concern that a sequel might merely be retreading the same ground, but Horvath rapidly dispels any idea of that. Last time round Sam was the focus. Her narrative dominated, and it was a rare scene in which she didn’t feature. Here for a long time she’s a secondary character, although a hovering presence, as anyone who’s read the first book knows what she is. The time is spent instead focussing on other Woodbrook residents, and while different there’s a feeling of coasting for a couple chapters even if what’s intended is a slower build. Rite of Spring only really catches fire when Sam returns to prominence with a horrifying scene again underlining what she is.

Horvath gives life to a cast not far removed from cuddly toys, depicting a variety of moods, and having them behave in ways similar to the creatures they’re based on, although he stops short of the koalas being perpetually stoned. Their visual appearance alone generates sympathy, which is extended when assorted problems come to light. No matter what happens, though, Horvath never diverges from the children’s illustration style.

The difference between the first book and Rite of Spring is for a long time we’ve no idea what Sam is up to. As previously, though, this is a two act play, although the second act begins a little further into the book this time, and it’s considerably briefer and utterly shocking. Despite that, the initial lack of focus means Rite of Spring is very readable, but not as strong as the first outing.