A satisfying ending. Finally the police shows up and every member of the Detection Club sets out their theory of what happened.

I have to say, I think Baroness Orczy might have been my favourite character. She didn't say much, but I agree with most of what she said.

By the end, I had almost gotten used to the horrible text font.

This book mostly deals with the denouement and the ending. It seemed a tad short but nevertheless, fun and enjoyable read.
The revelation was totally unexpected and, if I may add, weirdly funny.
I highly recommend this book.

Super cute finale of the story. I would have preferred this to be one book rather than 2 separate. I did love the ending and how it stayed in style which each author portrayed.

Sadly this conclusion is shorter than the first part which is a shame as I could’ve happily had more time with Harambat’s interpretations of the Detection Club members. The interplay between Christie and Chesterton was a highlight for me. As was the section where each author offers up to the group their own wild & wondrous deductions.

It was an enjoyable distraction from more weighty books that are waiting to be read.

The Detection Club: Part 2 by Jean Harambat

1.75 stars

This is the follow-up to part 1 of the graphic novel concept The Detection Club which follows a club of classic mystery writers (Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, John Dickson Carr to name a few) as the solve the murder of the odd man who created the mystery-solving robot Eric. This was at times better than the first book and at other times worse than its predecessor. I am not sure how I feel about it. I kind of greatly disliked it. The reveal was a typical: it wasn’t what you thought because it was really this all along trope. I was disappointed. I hoped the conclusion would end on a bang while also praying it would abstain from being overly racist. It still held those racist tones of old mystery novels, but I’m just glad that it wasn’t a red herring from one of the Ten Commandments of what not to do as a mystery writer that was introduced in part 1. The conclusion was kind of boring and I did like the death of the character and the reveal, but it was a huge cop-out because it wasn’t(view spoiler) I was still not a fan of the art style. There was one really cool drawing of the club standing over someone they knocked out who they thought was the killer and that was a wicked image, but everything else was pretty meh for me.
Overall, I am not sure if I would recommend this graphic novel series. The idea is fun, but the execution leaves much to be desired.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 1.5

Art Scale: 1.75

Plotastic Scale: 1.75

Cover Thoughts: If only the tone matched the epicness of this cover.

Thank you, Netgalley and Europe Comics, for providing me with a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

Part two picks up immediately from the end of part one, which ended without resolution. I think the whole would be best together in a single volume. Overall, enjoyed the story and artwork.

Volume 2 didn’t disappoint. I found volume one most entertaining and so was not disappointed to find volume 2 made me chuckle out loud too. I loved the traditional characters, their opinions and their guesses at who done it. Very entertaining.

Detective Club:Part 2 completes the story of the mysterious disappearance, query death of billionaire Roderick Ghyll. He had invited 7 members of the Detective Club to challenge their writing against a new age that was coming. An age of machines, of logic and algorithms. Has he made a stunt of his own death or is it the last demonstration of their ineptitude to find a solution to this locked room mystery. Part 1 was 2 chapters long. In this second instalment we have the final chapter where each of the seven crime writers pontificates and attempts feebly to declare the solution to this case. Fortunately, the Police have finally arrived and the truth can be established now.
Again Jean Harambat uses humour and the personalities and their fictional characters to weave ideas and perform actions to apprehend the guilty.
That this story subverts each of the ten commandments each author swears to adhere to on joining the club is a great in house joke to this comic book. The writing and gentle tease on this 1930s style of crime fiction is joyous at times a celebratory poke with wit and charm.
The solution is happily convoluted, tongue in cheek but faithful to nothing but the writer’s hubris as mirroring GK Chesterton’s work. But each has their moment, all are equally acknowledged and the nostalgia of their passing is not done so as to diminish the golden age but to bask in its heritage.

The Conclusion to the mystery from vol 1 did not disappoint me.

Again the art style in this one is really cute I am in love with it. I really have no complaints about this one other than the fact that it was way too short and basically did nothing but resolve the mystery.
I finally found out who the narrator was and was not bothered by his narration in this one. So I pretty much got everything I wanted.

I do not understand why was this story separated into two volumes. It is pointless. It's as if it was separated only to have a cliffhanger at the end of volume 1. I mean it was short enough to be one book.

I still recommend this. It's short but fun.

As we continue the story of the Detection Club, we finally get an answer to the whole mystery. Is it satisfying? A bit. But I feel like it lacks something to make the story better. The story is predictable. The way the authors argued about who the culprit is is quite annoying and it feels like a filler to make the story longer though I think it could be compiled in 1 volume rather than 2.

The Detection club part 1 and part 2 are comics and contain an original and nice story. Put seven detective writers together and send them to an island to solve a mystery. All the clues to be find and used in the detective books are used in the story of the detection club, like a locked room, a victim who’s body can’t be found, a secret path, a long missing twin brother etc. The way of solving the case, is similar to how the detectives in their books doing their jobs, and its’s recognizable. It’s funny to read and I liked the characters. I love the pictures in the book, those are really great to watch. I didn’t like the end of part 1, because the story hasn’t ended. Luckily part 2 was also available to read and finished the story. I really enjoyed these comic-books.

This is the second part of a two part mystery. The mystery is set up in the first part, and then concluded in this volume.

The first part was very slow, but it is important to read that, to understand what the clues are so you can attempt to solve the mystery.

I got some of the clues right, but not all. Interesting conclusion.

Good concept, but far too slow for the first part. This second part was a bit more fun, but doesn't make up for having to read the first part to get here.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

The detection club part 2 by Jean Harambat.
In 1930s England, the best mystery writers of the era come together to form the Detection Club. G. K. Chesterton, Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr and others gather to eat, drink, and challenge one another. They are in for a bigger test, however, when eccentric billionaire Roderick Ghyll invites them all to his mansion on a private island off the coast of Cornwall, promising to enchant them with his latest creation: a robot that can predict the culprit in their novels. But when someone ends up murdered, who will lead the investigation? Jean Harambat is back, following the success of “Operation Copperhead,” with a hilarious, satirical take on the classic crime novel.
A very good read. Great story and I liked the pictures. 4*.

I love this type of premise but this was a miss for me. The font is difficult to read and the authors all offer their theories without the reader being privy to the clues that led to their conclusions. This states that it is Part 2 so it might be clearer if you read that first. Characters need to be identified more clearly for those not familiar with these authors or their writings.
Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

A great mystery story premise with vivid illustrations.
I highly recommend this graphic novel.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

On paper "The Detection Club" had all the ingredients to be a hit with me. Sadly, it was a bit of a miss. While I found the premise quite interesting, with a nod to one of my all time favorite novels, "And then there were none", the actual plot was a bit weak and not developed enough (those small paragraphs of text here and there were greatly appreciated). I understand this is graphic novel with just around a hundred pages, so not all characters can have the same weight in the story, but some of the club members were mere spectators, centering the investigation in Agatha Christie and G.K. Chesterton. This pairing worked pretty well with some witty dialogue and retorts. The art was quite nice.

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Pastiches and parodies are not easy to do well, and you could say that Harambat has set himself a herculean task here. Yet, on the whole, I think he has accomplished his goals very well. The Detection Club members are entertainingly depicted, and the writer has avoided over-revering them. They are not portrayed as infallible and they wonderfully rub each other up the wrong way. None of them are mealy-mouthed, so if they have something to say then they will say it! The humour is well-crafted, and this is a story that you will laugh out loud with, when reading.

The story is also a nod to classic crime more generally – with two notable examples being Christie’s And Then There Were None and Carr’s Crooked Hinge. The recitation of Knox’s rules is no matter of mere padding and as the reader progresses through the comic they will see how the plot intersects these various rules. This area is handled deftly by the writer, ensuring that the plot can withstand such additions. Though it must be said that you mustn’t take things too seriously!

Harambat often focuses on the Detection Club members in pairs, which is a strength of the way the story is told. Chesterton and Christie are one such pairing, which worked really well, as both have an impressive repertoire of retorts for one another. The latter third of Part 1 and Part 2 of the comic reveal the detective fiction writers trying to uncover the truth behind Ghyll’s death and I think a good job has been made of differentiating their methods. Carr gets stuck into the “how” of the crime, though unfortunately no one wants to look at his detailed map of the house. Whilst Christie uses conversation as a means of eliciting motives. None of them are perfect detectives. Blunders and failures gleefully present themselves for the readers’ enjoyment. Tensions run high so it is not surprising that some of the Detection Club members accuse each other. The final solution, given the diverse elements of the crime, was very fitting and the epilogue is endearingly sweet.

I only have two niggles with the comic. The first is the characterisation of Dorothy L. Sayers. Whilst I appreciate that the story cannot give the same amount of time to all of the Detection Club members, I think she gets too overlooked. Moreover, I think she is shown to be too quiet and too un-proactive, which for me, didn’t really fit with the person which comes through in her various writings. My second niggle is an odd one. Normally I often bemoan writers who pad their works out, yet I find myself here wishing that Part 2 of the story could have been expanded. I feel there was definitely room for expansion within the plot.

However, as my final rating shows this is a highly recommended title, which I hugely enjoyed and found to be a lot of laugh-out-loud fun! I really hope more titles will be forthcoming in the series.