Review of Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula

[Valerie Garske]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula" by R.F. Kristi.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula is a children’s book by R.F. Kristi. The book is an imaginative story and is number eight in the Inca cat detective series. Anyone who has already read the first seven books might want to read this one. I recommend this book to children who love cats and are interested in learning about the Korean Peninsula.

Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula is a children’s book by R.F. Kristi. The book is an imaginative story and is number eight in the Inca cat detective series. Anyone who has already read the first seven books might want to read this one. I recommend this book to children who love cats and are interested in learning about the Korean Peninsula.

Inca is a cat and runs a detective agency. Inca and her friends travel to Korea with their human to judge a cooking contest. Over the next seven days, the animals attempt to stop Mom’s enemy from ruining her chances of competing in a cheese competition. The adventure continues when the crew learns their guide has been separated from his family by the Korean Demilitarized Zone. The DMZ is a strip of land across the Korean Peninsula, separating North Korea from South Korea. Hence, the animals create a plan to reunite the family. The story is written as a diary where Inca describes her observations and adventures.

I liked the idea of cat detectives and thought the illustrations were beautiful. The animals have cute and fun personalities. I also liked the premise of globetrotting cats. The story is a clever way to introduce travel and unique destinations to children.

However, I didn’t like that there was no mystery to solve. The animals had an adventure, but there were no clues or setup one would expect in a detective mystery. In addition, the book was not formatted to support a Kindle and read more like a PDF. The unusual font and formatting made reading challenging because it did not adjust to the screen. This book is better suited for a hard copy.

It was a cute story with a layer of politics floating below the surface. The Korean DMZ is a complicated topic that was lightly introduced. I read the book out of sequence and thought it did not stand alone as well as it could have. I think it might be better to start the series in order. The book could benefit from one more round of editing as I noticed some formatting problems with dialog. Consequently, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.

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Cat Detectives in the Korean Peninsula
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