ARAMINTA SPOOKIE 3: FROGNAPPED - Angie Sage

I usually try children's fiction on occasion, but something about Angie Sage's Araminta Spookie and Wanda Wizzard (and the other characters) keeps me coming back for more.  Probably my favorite in the series, Frognapped finds Araminta - think Wednesday Addams, but with more personality and droll sarcasm - finds herself under suspicion when the trained acrobatic frogs of Barry Wizzard - Wanda's father - go missing.  Known for her practical jokes, this was one Araminta didn't pull off, so forming a detective agency with Wanda, the two young girls follow a lead in the form of a lady massage therapist, trailing her to Old Morris's mushroom farm - now interestingly turned into a marine park featuring a killer shark and - you guessed it - acrobatic frogs.  I really loved that book three took the readers out of Spookie House more, showing off Araminta's surroundings and even more colorful characters from the neighborhood.  The book (the entire series, actually) is genuinely funny, too, with an action-filled, very satisfying ending that satisfies.  Again, maybe my favorite of a series that can be read - and enjoyed - by anyone of any age.  ****1/2

THE LAST COUNCIL (AMULET #4) - Kazu Kibuishi

Book four in the bestselling seven-book graphic novel series ramps up the action and danger, as newly-minted stonekeeper Emily and her family arrive in Cielis, the city in the sky ...where it immediately feels like something is "off".  Seems the townspeople - the few that can be found - fear something so badly it's practically keeping them prisoners in their own homes, and immediately upon landing the two elves in Emily's crew are, unbeknownst to their friends, taken prisoner and treated with veiled threats of death.  Even Emily, in Cielis to get answers, is instead treated like an interloper herself, forced in fact to compete for a place in the Guardian Council, an "honor" she doesn't want in the first place.  Betrayal, hidden secrets revealed, and a tense finale make this one of the best in this enthralling series.  Even aside from the usual take-your-breath-away artwork from artist/writer Kibuishi, part four of this brilliant series - which made this reader, who'd never read a graphic novel before, an instant fan - boasts a cliffhanger that should have you careening on to book five.  ****1/2   

THE UNEXPECTED INHERITANCE OF INSPECTOR CHOPRA - Vaseem Khan

Forced into early retirement due to a recent heart attack, the incorruptible and by-the-book Inspector Ashwin Chopra marks his last day on the force with two surprises: 1) he inherits a baby elephant, Ganesha, from a favorite and long-revered (though long-absent) uncle; and 2) the final case of his career to (technically) come across his desk is the "accidental" drowning of a young man that sets Chopra's spidey sense a-tingling, alerting him it may be something more.  But in his beloved city of Mumbai, overcrowded and under-funded and sprinkled liberally with corruption, Chopra's colleagues are more than willing to solve the case by declaring it an accident and chalking up as closed - especially for a young man from one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city.  But something about the boy - about the grieving mother who has already given up hopes of learning the truth about what happened to her son, because no one cares about the poor - spurs Chopra on to find the truth, as the trail of clues leads him further into the corruption of Indian politicians and lawmakers, and to a shocking truth that will turn Chopra's entire life around, even as getting closer to that truth puts his own life in danger.  But with the help of ex-colleagues he can trust, a wife determined to stick by her husband, and one incredible baby elephant, Chopra is determined to crack the case - even if it's his last.  The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra is my favorite book of 2015; in fact, one of my favorite novels of all time.  Beautifully written, the characters of Chopra, his wife Poppy, the heroic baby Ganesha - even the minor characters - breathe fully of life on the page.  At times humorous, suspenseful as hell, and even charming, the novel also provides a real feel for India - of Mumbai today - in all its conflicted beauty, always pulsating with life, and it's one of those books you will be a little sad for having finished ... with the second in the series not even due until June 2016!  Even writing this, I miss Chopra and Poppy and their friends and colleagues already, even wishing I had my own Ganesha in the backyard, frolicking in muddy waters under a mango tree.  A well-written mystery, and a marvelous start to what promises to be an endearing, original and beloved series.  *****

Note: I received a free ARC of this title via NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.