Nana Cracks the Case by Kathleen Lane, illustrated by Sarah Horne Ages 7-10 112 pages Chronicle Books April 2009 Hardcover     One morning, Nana sees this ad in the newspaper classifieds: “Detective. Must be very sneaky and own various wigs.” Thinking she is the perfect candidate for the job, she quickly applies. Since she is the only one, she gets the job and is off to solve the case of the stolen chocolate Yumdums. Meanwhile, her two grandchildren, Eufala and Bog, are left home alone while their worrisome mother rushes to work. The two devious children soon set off to stir up their own brand of mischief - which coincidentally brings them to the police department where they meet up with Nana. Through a series of useless bizarre clues and zany discrepancies, this harebrained trio eventually stumbles upon the perpetrator. But will Nana become his next victim and lose her own stash of Yumdums? This madcap story, written by Kathleen Lane, is a quick read interjected with doses of humor - if one can overlook the numerous inconsistencies throughout, including the requirement for various wigs which never comes up again. In Nana Cracks the Case, Nana is billed as a spry granny who is anything but a stereotypical old lady: some of her most recent jobs include backhoe operator, tightrope walker and zookeeper. The book also comes with a reversible fake dust jacket for a nonexistent volume called “THE JOY OF NAPPING,” just like the one Nana uses to disguise her own books, inferring that napping is NOT something this energetic geriatric plans to partake in - except that is exactly what she does before setting out to solve the crime. Add to that her bad eyesight, her forgetful manner and her penchant for getting lost, along with her sweet tooth, and you’ll find a rather typical grandma in there after all. But from a kid’s-eye-view, that might be part of the charm. Nana’s crime fighting skills and clueless demeanor are reminiscent of the Pink Panther’s Inspector Clouseau. The illustrations by Sarah Horne are as wacky as the storyline they follow. If screwball humor is what you’re after in lieu of a clever storyline, follow this tip and investigate between the covers of this inane tale chock full of childish humor.     web reviews   Niki Masse Schoenfeldt/2009 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)