'Mop and Monkus don’t just solve mysteries—they write them! This gumshoe duo, beloved as Tintin or Astérix, has been a fixture of French comics for decades. And now they’re back as Blutch, a leading comics talent of his generation, pays tribute to the adventures he cherished as a child. No sooner stymied by the sudden disappearance of their faithful friend, the Contessa Kiki, than our scripter sleuths find themselves beset by a crooked antiques dealer they thought they’d put behind bars for good. Suspicious inspectors, evil robots, gangsters from around the globe: how will Mop and Monkus ever pull through?'
Where Is Kiki? follow crime fighting authors Mop and Monkus, two men who get involved in mysteries, solve them, and turn their adventures into best selling books. Their latest adventure sees them discovering dozens of missing pieces of artwork hidden inside the home of a respected art dealer. With this dealer now in prison, the two detectives launch their latest novel, telling the public about this case. However, a couple of bizarre events happen at the book signing that send them down an ever twisting road.
The book really deals with two mysteries that are going on at the same time, one of which deals with the aftermath of catching their art dealer/thief, and his attempt to escape from prison, as well as the kidnapping of one of their friends, Kiki.
My biggest issue with this book is how these stories play out, and how the two mysteries keep butting up against each other and become a little confused. There were times that the two detectives would find a clue, or discover an important figure, but I was never sure as to which of the two stories it pertained to. This lack of explanation became even worse at the end of the book, where we learn who is behind the kidnapping of Kiki. Unless I missed something it's not explained why this person took her. Okay, it seems like they're obsessively in love with her, or something like that, but none of it is actually explained. I didn't know that there was even a connection between these two before this big reveal, and then it's wrapped up too quickly to really give it any space.
There were times too when the artwork added to this sense of confusion, as the style was at times quite messy. I didn't know if certain characters had bizarre features, such as one man who was squat, but had extremely long arms and huge hands, or if this was due to the messy, frantic style of the art. Do some of these people actually look like that? If so, there are a few people in this book who literally have no necks.
I'm sorry to say that I just didn't really get on with this book, despite really wanting to. I kept checking how many pages were left in the book because I was getting bored by things, and just wanted to get to the answers. Unfortunately, these answers either left me confused or feeling unsatisfied, and I never felt like I got a good sense of any of the characters and didn't really come to care for any of them because of this. It might appeal to fans of the series, but I wouldn't advise it for new readers like myself.
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