THE CASE OF THE CAT WITH THE MISSING EAR: From the Notebooks of Edward R. Smithfield, D.V.M.

First-time novelist Emerson's Adventures of Samuel Blackthorne series debuts with this briskly paced, comic mystery introducing an anthropomorphic canine "consulting detective." The detective's eloquence, arrogance, indefatigable omniscience and impeccable decorum are intentionally reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. Narrating the tale and playing Watson to Blackthorne's Holmes is Smithfield, a retired Navy medic who encounters the detective in a pub after arriving in San Francisco in 1887. (The cover playfully notes that Emerson has "collected and edited" the entries of Smithfield.) The diminutive Blackthorne, a Yorkshire terrier, invites Smithfield, a hulking yet dignified pooch nearly three times Blackthorne's size, to share his digs. Thus the mild-mannered doctor is willingly swept up into the latest case, involving a greyhound accountant who has been "shanghaied" and brought onto a ship about to sail to the Orient. Though it's clear from the start that the crackerjack sleuth will solve the case, readers are treated to a versatile canine crowd (including an Irish wolfhound who is a big-time gambler, three pit-bull brothers who are his gofers and a villainous bloodhound politician) and numerous twists of plot that keep this tongue-in-cheek tale corkscrewing merrily along. Mullett's wispy, halftone illustrations convey Victorian period particulars as well as the diverse personalities of the characters. Will readers return for the next episode? That's elementary. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)