THE STINK FILES

Justice isn’t exactly done, but at least the bad guys are identified and sent scurrying, in this second adventure featuring an upper-crust feline spy shanghaied to New Jersey. Here, in the course of scotching a dastardly plot to cut gourmet cat food with the cheap stuff, and rescuing the science project of his young human associate Aaron, James Edward Bristlefur—or “Stink,” to use the moniker bestowed by his “woefully ordinary” new American family—runs into old-flame Isabella, daughter of crime capo Don Catleone, and fiendishly clever Macavity, a six-toed Persian responsible for all sorts of nefarious deeds. Nonstop action (some of it in reeking Dumpsters), canny sleuthing, plenty of doubtlessly amusing spot art and full-page illustrations (not seen), and a large cast of four-legged toughs, dames, stoolies, and other familiar character types boost this page-turner into Chet Gecko territory. Packaged with a set of temporary tattoos. Further episodes on the way. (Fiction. 10-12)