Today, I’m delighted to be sharing my review of You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder by Jay Cooper and Maureen Johnson. Thank you to Mia Quibell-Smith at Harvill for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This review originally appeared on The Nerd Daily.
Dear Detective,
We need your help. You will be aware from the papers that famous writer Roy Peterson has been murdered. There were 6 people in the room when it happened, but none of the suspects saw the crime be committed … or so they say.
Our best people haven’t been able to solve the mystery, and now we are giving this case file to you. Can you decipher the clues, decode the witness statements, and identify the murderer? You are our last hope. Can you crack the Case of the Creeping Hand?
Yours truly,
Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police
Publication Date: 25th September
CW: murder, death, violence, classism, blackmail, addiction
My Thoughts:
Maureen Johnson’s enthralling mystery plotting and Jay Cooper’s sumptuously detailed drawings are a perfect match in You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder. This is a darkly hilarious read at times, pulling on classic staples of Golden Age mysteries but with an innovative twist.
I relished Cooper and Johnson’s previous collaboration—the ingeniously titled Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village. If you haven’t already picked this darkly comic gem up, improve your shelves and your day by doing so. This showed off both creators’ love of classic murder mysteries and the wry way they skewered standard tropes and tricks of the genre. Their focus turns to the genre once again in another dynamite collaboration. As the title for this book suggests, this is a bit of a different detective story where the reader is placed firmly in the central role. Can you piece together the clues and crack the case?
It is such a fun and disarming idea that completely upends your expectations going in. You are pouring over these pages, looking for the smallest detail and in Cooper’s illustrations, there is plenty to discover. These are so wonderfully realised and readers with a keen eye for detail will delight in going back through and seeing exactly what you may have missed. There is a warmth and sense of heart and humour in every illustration, even when you may be confronting some pretty nasty people. Cooper’s skill brings these people to life and you can exactly picture how they may speak or move through the world from just one drawing. These illustrations are vivid, characterful and sometimes ominous—offering so much in so little space. I also relished the inclusion of detailed maps which helped give you a sense of the setting without revealing too much (and also made me envision different routes through the house for various characters).
The plotting of the book is as ferocious as you can expect from Johnson, whose Stevie Bell series remains a hallmark of the YA mystery genre. You are led down several different rabbit holes in trying to unravel this closed-circle, seemingly impossible mystery. It is beyond entertaining as you follow along and meet all of these complicated people with their own secrets held close to their chest. There is a wonderful sense of fun and playful humour that permeates the pages, poking fun at several character types and tropes that you may expect to see in the archetype of these stories. The historical setting complements that Golden Age feel, but has a distinctive spin. At once it pays homage with love and takes knowing jabs at certain beats you may be expecting it to hit. Both creators have constructed a well-plotted and fast-paced story that has plenty of layers and intricacies to it, keeping the pages flowing even as you spend time entranced by these gorgeous illustrations. It had me scribbling down notes, clues and theories—making it such an immersive and intensive reading experience. Fret not, there is a solution to be found but trying to get there yourself first is infinitely more rewarding.
I hope this kickstarts a new series or we are at least treated to more collaborations from these fiendish, twisted minds. That blend of dark humour and mystery is utterly captivating and stands out from the crowd.
You Are The Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder is a real treasure trove for mystery lovers and gives a unique spin on the classic Golden Age style of stories. Challenge yourself to see if you can crack the case.
A Short Book Lover 
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