ACE LACEWING, BUG DETECTIVE

It’s all about family in the chitinous crime solver’s latest caper. When Scratch Murphy, a flea with a big lump on his head and a bigger chip on his shoulder, stomps in announcing that he’s been robbed of the proceeds from newly opened Six Legs Amusement Park, Ace and his blue bombshell sidekick Xerces waste no time flitting into action. But the ground is thick with suspects, from aggrieved cotton-candy vendor Bo Weevil and his boll-full of larvae to Scratch’s twin brother Scritch. Muted colors add just a hint of noir to buggy illustrations festooned with sight gags, side business and insect visitors abuzz over attractions like the Park’s anteater slide and the Termite Tower of Terror. Though Biedrzycki depicts the coolly elegant private eyes and everyone else in the cast with but four limbs, it’s a bit of real natural history that at last furnishes Ace with the clue that breaks the case and sends the malefactor packing. Here’s just more proof that there’s no room in Motham for bad guys—er, bugs—with Ace on the case. (Picture book. 7-9)