SAM SUNDAY AND THE MYSTERY AT THE OCEAN BEACH HOTEL

Sam Sunday, bear detective, is miserable because no one remembered his birthday. Then he gets a call, asking him to come to a decrepit inn, the Ocean Beach Hotel. When he arrives, the duck who runs the place (and a dame in distress if ever there was one) informs Sam that things have been mysteriously disappearing. One by one, Sam tracks down the suspicious-looking guests and assembles them in the parlor. But now the duck has disappeared, and when he returns to the parlor, ``Good night, Louise! It was empty! The suspects had vanished like soap bubbles.'' Smelling a flimflam, Sam steps into an unlit ballroom. The lights go on, his friends throw down their disguises, and ``SURPRISE!'' This Dashiell Hammett parody is on the money, and the genre-bending ending adds an entertaining twist. The illustrations, in graphite, oils, and oil pastels, feature a memorable cast of characters: The world-weary goat, the self-conscious mole, and the bear, whose trench coat hangs exactly like Bogey's, are rendered with a truly refined sense of humor. Supraner and Hillenbrand employ mockery and mimicry on a grand scale, creating a minor hard-boiled masterpiece. (Picture book. 3-8)