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Title: Shady Hollow by Juneau Black (pen name of authors Jocelyn Koehler and Sharon Nagel)
Details: Copyright 2015, Penguin Random House, LLC
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover: ""A magical confection... Quirky and clever, charming and smart." -- Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author of First Frost
The first book in the Shady Hollow series, in which we are introduced to the village of Shady Hollow, a place where woodland creatures live together in harmony— until a curmudgeonly toad turns up dead and the local reporter has to solve the case.
Reporter Vera Vixen has a nose for news, so when she catches wind that the death might be a murder, she resolves to get to the bottom of the case, no matter where it leads. As the fox stirs up still waters, she exposes more than one mystery and discovers that additional lives are in jeopardy.
Vera's investigations unearth more about this town than anyone ever suspected. It seems someone in the Hollow will do anything to keep her from solving the murder and soon it will take all of Vera’s cunning and quickness to crack the case."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I saw an advertisement for this and a murder mystery, for adults, with all animal characters was honestly so wonderfully batshit of an idea I had to give it a shot.
How I Liked It:
What's the most unlikely concept for a novel you can imagine? Or any book in general really. You ever see a recipe that sounds both disgusting and yet oddly intriguing, like it might be delicious? Sometimes, the weirdest things we can think of, the unlikeliest combinations, we sort of want to see happen just to see what would happen. So I read this book. What happened?
First! Meet Vera Vixon, your fox on the scene. A non-native, relative newcomer to the surprisingly insular community of Shady Hollow, she's a reporter for the much-read local paper and the current talk of the town is the fact one of its more unlikable residents, a grouchy toad with a secret life, Otto Sumpf, was found murdered, his murder opening the book. The town police, the inept and absent Theodore Meade and his deputy the hard-working Orville Braun are stumped (both are bears).
And soon, there's a second murder, this time attempted, of one of the town's wealthiest residents and head of the saw mill, beaver Reginald von Beaverpelt, whose reprieve is short-lived since someone ultimately finishes the job and if the first murder was a mystery, this is even bigger, with plenty of conflicting suspects.
Soon, Vera is working the case as much as, or more than the police (much to the consternation of Orville, who wishes she'd stay safe and let him do his job). And then there's a target on Vera's back, as the killer or killers appear to be trying to take her out as well!
She discovers the culprit, and all is revealed, and she's almost killed. As she's on the mend, the town recovers and a bashful Orville brings her flowers (Vera tried to fix her fur before seeing him but too many bandages!).
If you've been reading this project for even a bit, you'll know I don't care for crime fiction generally, especially when it's one of a series (this is apparently the first book in a series): too many overused tropes and eyeroll-inducing cliches, even when the author thinks they're oh-so-cleverly avoiding them. I also must admit that despite my fondness for BoJack Horseman and familiarity with Animal Farm, I haven't read Watership Down yet, so when I think of all animal characters, it's hard to think of them in an adult context and not, say, the world of Richard Scarry or Zootopia. So that must mean I could not stand this book, right?
Wrong! Oddly, this book has several (theoretical) strikes beyond what I've already described that should make me wince. The book has a listed cast of characters and descriptions at the top of the book, which in my previous experience means the author isn't going to try to differentiate the characters any better than that. I mentioned overused tropes and cliches in crime fiction, and the book definitely has plenty of that, including one of my most detested, a monologuing villain. As though fearing their audience (the name "Juneau Black" is a pen name for the book's two authors, Jocelyn Koehler and Sharon Nagel) might be lost from the start with an all-animal cast, they helpfully provide a note putting matters into perspective:
Shady Hollow is a tale of woodland creatures, and from time to time the contemplative reader may pause to wonder precisely how a town functions with foxes and rabbits as tenants of the same building, or how a mouse and a moose can chat eye to eye. Keep in mind, gentle reader, that this is a work of fiction. The characters' resemblances to real creatures, alive or cruelly murdered, is incidental indeed. For those who feel compelled to resolve this issue before continuing with the story, you may wish to think of the characters merely as humans with particularly animalistic traits... in other words, just like you and me.
With that guidance, welcome to Shady Hollow. (Author's Note)
But the odd thing (at least for me and my stated proclivities) is how well it all works. This is honestly a charming book. I've mentioned I don't mind overused tropes so much if the rest of the book is good enough to carry it, and in this case, it is. The tropes may be frequently used, but they work here and feel far more like a nod to classic crime fiction and mysteries rather than the umpteenth overeager author with nothing new to say and a boring way of saying it. The pacing started off a bit slow as the town and its residents were established, but stared picking up the pace as the story got more complicated, and was a full-on page-turner by the end of the book.
I feel that the animal setting (which I'm assuming either takes place in the past or is completely fantasy as cellphones and the internet don't exist and print newspaper rules the town with an iron fist; also, for a book with murder and an illicit affair, nothing is too explicit) honestly adds to it and the writers don't ever get too cute about it.
Which isn't to say there aren't animal puns and some weirdness here and there:
Edith rushed to the living room and collapsed onto the chesterfield, sobbing and touching a dainty, lacy pawkerchief to her eyes. (pg 59)
"Otto made an enemy of everybody," said another. "And who knows what sets off a panda?"
A squirrel said, "I heard he killed another panda with his bare paws!"
"Well, aren't all his paws bear paws?" asked a ferret in a puzzled tone. (pg 68)
However, Ruby was not like other sheep. As Ruby grew up, her nature seemed to grow wilder. She craved affection and was seen with a new beau practically every week. She was egalitarian-- species didn't matter to her. (pg 94)
Vera sighed. "That's a cynical take."
"I'm a raven." Lenore shrugged. "If you want sunshine and melodies, go find a swallow." (pg 113)
She tried to read one of Lenore's featured titles, the translation of the northern thriller The Squirrel Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Otto Sumpf had been a fan of the series for years, since he could read it in the original language. (pg 167)
Ha!
Lenore had to leave then, since a mouse had a question about Of Mice & Men.
"Yes, of course. It's in fantasy," Lenore said, flying over to assist. (pg 168)
So that book exists in this universe but it's fantasy? That's actually fascinating as far as the worldbuilding.
If the whole concept of this book makes you wonder if you're dreaming, or maybe took something, I'm with you! But it's lovely to see that the finished product definitely satisfies whether you thought it would or not. When reading a book (or watching a movie, or trying a recipe) you were sure was too weird to work out, it's quite the nice surprise when it actually does.
Notable: A pet peeve of mine that's a common problem: "serial killer" gets confused with "mass murderer". "Serial killer" requires a waiting period between murders, "mass murderer" does not.
However, in the context of this book, these aren't too bad, considering:
"Oh, my!" Ruby jumped a little. "Of course it must be all part of the same madness. I can't believe there's a serial killer at work in town. That's awful to think about. I wish the whole thing would just go away." (pg 95)
An overzealous citizen outwardly expressing concern isn't going to quibble with the correct definition.
"Good! We'll sell out if the headline is snappy." He spread his paws as if seeing the words plastered outside a building. "I"m thinking 'Murderer Still at Large!' or 'Killer Runs Amok!'"
"'Killer Runs Amok'?" Vera repeated incredulously.
"'Vicious Serial Killer Runs Amok,'" BW amended. "Too long?"
"Stop this nonsense, BW. You don't need to frighten folks into buying newspapers." (pg 124)
And neither will an overzealous editor trying to sell papers.
________________________________________
We need to talk about how police are portrayed in fiction, because it has an effect on reality whether it's misrepresenting police procedure in a flattering light on a popular long-running television program, or a cast of animal characters in a murder mystery novel. To be sure, there's some questionable moments here that made me wonder what the authors' intentions were.
Deputy Orville makes a list of suspects and some considerable omissions.
At the top, he wrote Murder. Then, on the left, he inscribed Suspects and proceeded to list the names of nearly all Shady Hollow residents, leaving off only children and police officers. (pg 110)
I'm pretty sure it's not news in 2023 to say that police are absolutely capable of murder. To be fair, so are children, technically, but for plot points I won't give away, it would be pretty unlikely for a child to have committed this particular murder.
"Who can say what a beaver driven insane with jealousy might do? Let the police ask her what she was thinking. If they have the guts to arrest her! The police are always keen to accuse the powerless. When the upper crust misbehaves-- oh, it's a different matter then."
"I'm sure the law treats everyone the same in Shady Hollow," Vera says stiffly. Granted, the law usually did that by ignoring duty altogether and taking fishing trips every day. Chief Meade probably wouldn't dare to arrest Edith. Would Orville? (pgs 158 and 159)
There's one law for the poor and one law for the rich and police uphold the wealthy, as Vera more or less acknowledges here.
A more troublesome aspect comes with the character of Lefty the raccoon, a buffoonish, petty perpetual criminal at odds with police.
Orville finished the report with a sigh of relief. "There. That's done. Since I have you here, Chitters, can you tell me if there have been any break-ins at the sawmill lately? Or if any suspicious characters have been seen lurking about?"
"What makes a character suspicious?" Howard asked, puzzled.
"'Skulking, lurking, stalking, casing the joint, possessing a raccoon-like shape'... the usual." In fact, Orville was reciting verbatim from the Big Book of Policing. (pg 170)
So... is this a point about profiling? Or is the fact Lefty is actually a criminal (albeit a minor one) making... a very different point about profiling?
Vera shook her head. "It would never work. I think raccoons can smell police from fifty paces." (pg 190)
I mean, you could say I'm reading too much into this, but I do think the authors were perhaps going for something here, I'm just not sure exactly what.
Finally,
Vera knew Lenore would let Orville inside [her apartment]. No one said no to the police. And Orville had carried Vera all the way home. Twice. (pg 211)
Oof.
Final Grade: A
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