THE CASE OF THE GREENSBORO GREMLINS

Supernatural sleuth Dotty Morgan returns to track down some pesky gremlins in Martin’s middle-grade mystery.

Twelve-year-old Dotty Morgan is a seasoned supernatural sleuth in Elderton, North Carolina. In this third installment of her eponymous series, local boy Jimmy Grubbler pleads for her to protect his gremlin friends from a human aggressor. Dotty instead joins her girlfriend Hannah Matson and best friend, Parker Pose, in Greensboro for the former’s wrestling tournament and the latter’s fashion competition. While there, the friends realize that Jimmy may not be the only one with a gremlin problem: Weird accidents keep happening at Greensboro Fashion Week, and it’s up to Dotty to stop them from ruining her friend’s big moment. (“Reality exists independent of belief. If something is going on, I’ll find out.”) With Hannah’s irresponsible mother and her shady boyfriend in the mix, alongside suspects like famous designer Chadwell Pose’s assistant and contest coordinator Bunny Fingerhut, Dotty has her work cut out for her. Could gremlins really be the cause of the incidents at the fashion show? And could some sinister human be pulling the strings behind the scenes? This follow-up to The Case of the Zombie Ninjas (2024) presents a slightly more grown-up Dotty struggling with puberty, Hannah’s mother’s drug addiction, and homophobia alongside her usual paranormal opponents. These issues are neatly woven into the narrative, emerging organically without overwhelming the action. Martin makes a special effort to point out each character’s race, not just those of Dotty (who is Black) or her friends, which illustrates the author’s commitment to inclusion and representation. While the classic whodunit plot only occupies the middle third of the novel, and thus may leave hardcore mystery lovers wanting more, other readers will appreciate this deeper dive in Dotty’s daily life.

An engaging and more mature installment in a children’s mystery series that has yet to miss.