Book Review: Paws vs. Claws (An Arthur and Queenie Mystery) - dog, cat, girl, boy, cow

Paws vs. Claws: An Arthur and Queenie Mystery, by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award winning author Spencer Quinn/Peter Abrahams (Pas de Deux Corp/Scholastic Press, 2019,  309 pages, $16.99, grades 3-7, ages 8-12)

Ah, that prolific and delightfully entertaining Spencer Quinn of the 12 Chet (dog) and Bernie (human) books is at it again, this time for kids with his 3 Birdie (girl) and Bowser (pup) books

and now the 3 Arthur (dog) and Queenie (cat) books!

Mix in a set of 11-year-old fraternal twins (who loathe* each other) - Harmony and her brother Bro (in the grade behind); the old Blackberry Inn run by Mom, since Dad and Mom were divorced; an incorrigible* dog narrator (Arthur) and feline authoress, Queenie. Add in ambidextrous* Jimmy whose black eye was caused by running into a ladder or a door or a branch or Walter. And don't forget the gone-cow, a coma, a drowning, and . . . the oh-so-aptly named Catastrophe Falls (not named after a cat).

Our dog Arthur loves sports stuff: hockey pucks and baseball balls, especially in mud season in Vermont. Our cat Queenie loves her morning saucer of cream from Sweet Lady Em, a cow who seems to have disappeared: thus, the mystery in the title.

The Narrators

Note that the title and subtitle put the dog before the cat (this comment is at the request of an 11-year-old reader who has a dog).

Chapters are narrated by either Queenie the cat , The Cat's Meow, or Arthur the dog, mostly alternating chapters. For readers familiar with the Chet and Bernie series, you will recognize a lot of Chet in the thoughts of Arthur the dog. 

Writing Style

A bit slow to start out and a bit too reminiscent of Chet's train-of-thought writing (thinking), nevertheless, an engrossing book that makes the reader feel smart - hints develop into crucial clues later on but when first introduced, the hints are natural parts of the plot.

*look it up!

Read More About It! Book 2 in the series is Ruff vs. Fluff. Book 3 is Bark vs. Snark. The three books in the Echo Falls series are written for grades 5 and 6 (ages 8-12), primarily - Down the Rabbit Hole, Behind the Curtain and Into the Dark.

The Spencer Quinn books may be available at your friendly neighborhood public library.