[LISTENED TO: November 16, 2014] The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen
We enjoyed Whales on Stilts so much that we were really excited to listen to this second book in the series. However, this book, while featuring the same main trio, was actually quite different.
The gang has decided that they are going on vacation. They’re a little bored (Katie’s mom has been doing things like cutting off her own hand just to freak out Jasper), so they take Jasper’s latest gadget and head up to the mountains for a little r n r (and a free dinner with the coupon that Jasper received).
When they get to the hotel (the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort), they realize that they can’t afford a room, so Jasper’s gadget attaches to the side of the hotel and looks just like it is supposed to be a part of it (apparently). Of course, when they leave their invasive bubble, they have to go out through someone else’s bathroom and he is terrified by the calamitous sound that Jasper’s gadget made while attaching to the building). They also learn that the coupon for a free dinner was fake.
When Jasper reveals to the hotel clerk that he is indeed Jasper Dash, boy technonaut, the clerk reveals that he is but one of many literary super sleuths in residence that night. The Manley Boys and the Hooper Quints are there, and so is Eddie Wax and the Cutesy Dell Twins.
Who?
Well, the Manley boys are dumb (really dumb) sleuths. In an interview, Anderson said they “express some of the fascination (and resentment) I felt toward those tiresomely hale and hearty Hardy Boys and their dispiriting success with the smartly clad fifties girls of my dreams.” Their stupidity is legendary (and hilarious). The Hooper Quints were a group of orphans (can you guess how many) who were raised by a nun (The Sound of Music, anyone?). She nicknamed them Do through La and told them they could sing (they couldn’t). And eventually, she made them the titular pants: lederhosen made from the kitchen linoleum. Their books were even older than Jasper Dash’s and had gone way out of print (even more than Jasper’s had).
The Cutesy Dell Twins (which I gather are like Sweet Valley High) are super nice (until they turn on you). And Eddie Wax is a cowboy who pines for his dead horse, Stumpy. He also seems to think that he was in a series, but there was only ever one book.
The gang is concerned about the other characters (for various personal reasons–The Manley Boys used to pick on Jasper, for instance). But Katie is insistent on simply having a relaxing vacation by the pool (with the Cutesy Dell Twins and a water polo team, of course) while reading Snazzy magazine. But when that many literary figures are in one place, something bad is going to happen. And it does.
Katie hears someone stealing a necklace. But despite her years of heroism, she does her best to ignore it. But there’s something else afoot.
The Hooper Quints have been kidnapped! Yes. And while the Lodge was organizing a search party, the priceless Mandrake necklace was stolen (that’s what Katie heard)! Coincidentally, the heads of the dead animals are also going missing from the wall, but only Lily Gefelte (yes, she’s here too) seems to notice or care.
There’s also a professor who is studying bats (and hopes to evolve into one). And so he spends all of his time using echolocation (meaning he shrieks at the top of his lungs to be able to walk around). [Fortunately the audio book narrator doesn’t shriek too much]. He goes from being suspect to assistant all the while annoying everyone around him.
But this plot is actually beside the point (and is solved in a totally unexpected and hilariously bizarre fashion). Although in trying to solve it, Jasper is almost done in by his allergies. Incidentally, Anderson taps into a fear that I have always had–if I was ever captured and gagged, I’d be terrified that my allergens would act up and I’d be unable to breathe. Which is just what happens to Jasper–and there is a whole thrilling chapter as the histamines attack him.
But really after the mystery is solved, what Anderson explores is a kind of meta-situation that was sort of raised in the first book. How can Jasper Dash’s books be so old that no one reads them anymore and yet still be the same age as Katie and Lily? Anderson posits that as long as the books are read, the characters stay the same age, but as soon as the books are no longer read, the characters begin to age (thus the Hooper Quints are now adults). It is mind-boggling (and I’m sure my kids had no idea what was going on) but also kind of sad (Katie realizes that she may never grow up). Also mind-boggling is the really odd section where Eddie Wax is reunited with his ghost horse.
The entire final disc is taken up with these musings. And I have to admit that while I enjoyed pondering these ideas (I thought the whole conceit was pretty genius), the story itself kind of suffered a bit for it. Or should I say not really having a plot made the end of the book seem less urgent. Or something. The ending didn’t have the magnificent climax that Whales did.
Of course, I loved all the meta-nonsense that went on–there’s just so much of it!–because it was both funny and also thought-provoking. I was a little bummed that there weren’t quite as many bizarro footnotes in this book (how about a list of Cutesy Dell Twins books?), but then, this book was clearly aiming for something different from the first.
The next book in the series was advertised at the end of the book (Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware) and it sound hilarious. I can’t wait.
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