Gumshoe

by Brenna Thummler

From the visionary creator of the Sheets trilogy comes a never-before-seen contemporary middle grade graphic novel about a spunky group of girls, set against the backdrop of the Arizona desert. Perfect for fans of Paper Girls and This Was Our Pact.

In the hot, gossipy town of Stony Lonesome, shy eleven-year old Willa interacts with others the only way that feels right to her—the mail. She loves the mail so much that she hopes to become a mail carrier herself one day. But her dreams of delivering birthday cards, thank-you notes, and love letters come crashing down when she’s mistaken for the notorious Two Gum Tilly, a bandit rumored to be stealing mail for as long as folks can recall.

Now an outlaw herself, Willa realizes the only way to clear her name is to bring the real crook to justice. But when a chance encounter introduces her to the Gumshoe Gang, a group of runaways looking to right the wrongs of the letter-looting thief, she finds that human connection might be her only path to freedom. Can Willa clear her name and revive her dreams of postal glory, or has she stamped her last letter . . . forever? 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Comics, Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary, Graphic Novels Comics

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 13, 2026

About the author

Brenna Thummler grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania, where she developed a great love for nature trails, peanut butter, and, above all, drawing. A graduate of Ringling College of Art and Design, she was named the Society of Illustrators Zankel Scholar during her junior year. Since graduation, she has done editorial and advertising work for such clients as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Razorfish, and Empathic Films LLC. While Anne of Green Gables is her first published graphic novel, her first original graphic novel is Sheets. In those rare moments she’s not creating art, you might find her dancing, making music, baking cheesecakes, or spending time with kindred spirits.

Reviews

[Olivia | Liv's Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was SO CUTE! From the color palette, the social anxiety representation, the humor, the mystery & all the cats, this was beyond creative. I will continue to read anything Brenna writes! 🥹

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A literal love letter to Louis Sachar's Holes, this emulation pales in comparison to that masterwork.

Willa Rivera (or possibly Ramirez) is a young girl with a social anxiety disorder who idolizes mail carriers. She dreams of the day she will deliver mail herself, but a misunderstanding makes her think she has burnt that dream to ash, and she runs away from home, falling in with a vigilante group of girls being driven around in a mail truck by an adult who has gathered them as a posse to help her track down Two Gum Tilly, a legendary mail thief in Arizona. Willa hopes she can redeem herself in the eyes of the postal service by bringing down the outlaw.

The outcome is immediately obvious, but we must slog through hundreds of pages of boring nonsense to get there: getting to know the quirky girls and their aloof leader, telling campfire stories about the legend of Two Gum Tilly, plotting her capture, walking and talking, looking for clues, ducking a mail carrier looking for Willa, becoming friends, etc.

Suspension of disbelief becomes difficult as ridiculous moments and stupid coincidences keep piling up.

I was very eager to read this when I first heard about it, but by the time I was deep in it, I was having to force myself to pick it up again in order to make my way to the inevitable end.

[abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

ever since the sheets trilogy, i’ve been highly anticipating brenna thummler’s next graphic novel. for YEARS i was awaiting gumshoe’s publication, and now i can finally say she never misses!! gumshoe is even better than sheets in my opinion. the colors, the friendships, the writing/the dialogue, the mystery (which i did guess but was still so so fun), and the creation of the town itself and all its wonderful personality! i could go on and on!! a must-read for girlies of ALL ages, but especially for those who struggle with social anxiety <3

[Lily Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

HELL YEAH

Had me audibly laughing, tearing up and feeling so appreciative of the pleasures of reading. The art style is gorgeous and verrryyy reflective of the setting, I thought they worked really well together. The humour is ACTUALLY funny, and it shocked me to find out that this is categorised as 9-12 (for Wstones anyway), but I can totally see it - it’s just so expertly done that it doesn’t patronise a younger reader AND holds value whether you skim through pages or read deeper into details, making it an approachable and engaging read for any age group. I’m absolutely in love, and it was a refreshing reminder of why I love reading as I was feeling sluggish from previous material.

Ps: Dogie I would die for you x

[Minji · Rating 4 out of 5]

This middle grade graphic novel was so cute! The art is so beautiful and the coloring of the entire book is so wonderful. I think young kids would love this story and it mixes an unorthodox occupation with the beauty of the Wild West in a cute story about friendship, social anxiety, and learning to find your own voice. I was so delighted by this story!

[Gwendolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willa really wants to be a mail carrier. She’s very shy, and doesn’t talk much but she dreams of delivering cards, thank you notes, and love letters. In the gossipy town of Stony Lonesome there’s a mail bandit on the loose and Willa gets mistaken for the infamous Two Gum Tilly when she is caught taking mail from a mailbox. She goes on the run and bumps into a gang of runaways who are also on a mission to find the looting thief. You need to suspend your disbelief and just go on the adventure it offers. There are plot holes and things that as an adult I was like what about this or what about that, but the humor is good, the art is fantastic and the girl gang is fun. I really did love Willa as the main character and I like how the other girls opened up to her and she to them. It’s a must read if you love gum and cats!

[Nicole]

I started this book one day and wasn’t loving it and then finished the second half on a second day and was laughing and even teared up? So idk what day 1 me was thinking but I ended up enjoying this! The illustrations are impeccable as always, Brenna Thummler always delivers with the most beautiful color palettes

[Olivia (Stories For Coffee)]

:/ not my favorite

[Danielle Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brenna does it again! USPS should really take note to the uniform change though. Cowboy boots and little shorts? Yes please

[Hannah Rhodes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly one of you on this app is going to make fun of me for reading a graphic novel, but I read it with my toddler son so you literally can’t say anything. ✨

Anyways, the son in question loved this story. The illustrations and color palette are gorgeous. I couldn’t quite follow the story but that doesn’t really seem to matter so much with well-illustrated graphic novels.

[Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brenna!! You've done it again!!

This is so goofy and feels like such an encapsulation of girlhood. The way this world reflects our own and is also completely unique (post office crime is rampant? cats are celebrity singers!). I absolutely love the way Brenna Thummler designed this unique world and a cast of characters that are each distinct while also united under their mission to service the post office. They were giving major Molly and Kit vibes!

The color palette is everything you could dream of. So many beautiful and amazing illustrations. After the success of Sheets, I was curious what Thummler would create next and I am so impressed. This is completely different than the Sheets trilogy, while also keeping that same trademark charm. Highly recommend this both for young girls, but also for adults looking for a fun pick-me-up.

[Brittany]

Not rating on goodreads.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for early copy for review*

The art in this is fantastic! I love the color palette and how it gives life to this comic. The story and cowboy colloquialisms are not for me however. This made it a headache for me to read. Really wanted to love this because I love female friendships being highlighted.

[Gwyneth Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cowboys! Mail! Social anxiety! Outlaws! This kid’s graphic novel has it all! Gumshoe had my heart in the first few pages with the beautiful art and the shy & lovable main character Willa. Willa is a character that people will either feel empathy for or find solace in. We are all Willa, or we know a Willa, and she was written with so much grace and kindness. The overall story about Two Gum Tilly is entertaining, sure, but the real heart comes from watching Willa find her place in the Gumshoe Gang. There’s nothing like the camaraderie between teenage girls with a shared mission.

The twist could be seen from a million miles away across the desert, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t satisfying to watch the characters react to it. Plus, it would’ve blown my mind as a kid. The art style is just stunning! The world is filled with so much whimsy and I need one of those mail uniforms STAT. I will be hand selling this to everyone I know. 4.5/5 rounded up to 5 because it’s too darn cute. Thank you HarperCollins for the ARC 🤠

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tickled me, it was a delight! Love how much cat content there was. Lil guy had a lil hat on!

[suonnahbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

☺️🤠

[Mari Mankle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute. And, as always, Brenna’s art was incredible.

[Lily Heerema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful! Cute! Adorable! Little cowgirls living in an ideal alternate reality!

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I voluntarily read and reviewed this advanced copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had previously enjoyed this author's book, Sheets, and was eager to continue with her publications. Gumshoe had the unique premise of a band of runaway girls determined to find the bandit notorious for stealing others' mail. I did love the wardrobe and dreamy color palette of this graphic novel. The pinks and blue were perfect against the dusty Arizona backdrop. Narrative-wise, I was utterly lost. There wasn't a proper exposition to explain the characters' motivations or backgrounds. I felt like I was dropped in the middle of the story even from the first page. It was also 100 pages too long that could have used some tumbleweed culling for better clarity. Critiques aside, this was a unique story and I applaud the author once again for her creativity. Willa was a great gumshoe who solved the mystery of Stony Lonesome with the help of her postcard-stealing pals.

[Lindsay♫SingerOfStories♫ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry everyone but I didn't care for this. I wanted to! It just did not click as a story for me.

[Shersten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to HarperCollins for the ARC!
Gumshoe is a stunningly drawn graphic novel filled with humor and heart. Following a young girl struggling with social anxiety who aspires to be a mailwoman, we're thrown into a fun found-family adventure. I was blown away by how beautiful the artwork is, I adore the color palettes used and just the art style in general! The line "You're like if lotion could talk." made be actually laugh out loud.
Can't wait to recommend this to lots of kiddos once it comes out!
Only downsides to me were that I figured out the "twist" almost immediately-but keep in mind this is meant for much younger readers, so I don't really hold that against it. Would have liked to see a bit more of what Willa's family was dealing with, the whole time I was like "Willa's family must be freaking out right now!"

[Darth Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was a fan of Thummler's Sheets trilogy, but this sadly missed the mark for me. Just felt so disjointed; I only vaguely knew what the hell was happening at any given time and I'm not so sure Thummler knew where the story was going or what to do with it either. I guess I couldn't suspend my disbelief for long enough for this to work. Saw another reviewer describe it as Thummler's failed attempt at recreating Holes and, yeah, checks out. That said, I did enjoy/appreciate the friendship between the girls, the cat with the tiny cowboy hat, and how she dealt with social anxiety (though the black on white text boxes were sometimes hard to read).

Also appreciated the punny title. Unfortunately, there wasn't much "gumshoe" detective work for the reader to do. The "twist"/"mystery" becomes extremely obvious pretty much instantly.

The art, especially the Arizona scenescapes, were gorgeous to look at and made me miss living there. Thummler nailed the color scheme and those Arizona sunsets.

Not a terrible way to spend an hour or two (or less) and fairly pretty to look at (though did chuckle at how many people *hate* Thummler's style of faces lol).

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.85 Stars

Plot -3
A group of runaways try to thwart a letter-thieving outlaw, with ironic results. Unique but predictable. Silly and lighthearted.

Exposition & Art - 3.75
Beautiful color palette. I love all the funny words part of the southwest lingo.

Atmosphere - 5
a small, western town called Stony Lonesome. How perfect is that?? And all the mail carriers dress like cowboys! The art contributes to the atmosphere of the setting with its beautiful desert sunset colors.

Characters - 3.5
Love the representation in the main character with her social anxiety. Her friend group, the side characters (sidekicks?) were adorable and hilarious. I liked them even more than the main character! I felt like identifying the villain was pretty obvious and predictable.

Heart - 4
Adorable and fun! I think this book is unique the the graphic novel world.

[Ky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willa wants to be a mailwoman, but when she is mistaken for Two Gum Tilly, a mail bandit, she ends up on the run with some other runaway girls who call themselves The Gumshoe Gang. Set on catching Two Gum Tilly, the group sets off to stop the bandit from stealing more cards.

The art is amazing and the focus on accepting yourself and others was lovely. The story itself was a little bit weird. The twist was pretty obvious early on. Overall a fun romp through the desert!

I rated it 3.5/5 rounded up to 4 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the e-arc!

[Abby Greaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brenna is such a great graphic novel writer! I loved Sheets, so I was so excited for her to release a new story.

We follow Willa, a quiet girl, who doesn't have friends and loves mail. She runs away from home and joins the "Gumshoe Gang" to help find Two Gum Tilly, the outlaw mail stealer of Arizona. Will they be able to catch Tilly? Will Willa make friends with these girls? You'll have to read to find out!

Perfect for those who are quiet, struggle to make friends, or girls who need to know that they are wonderful just how they are!

Thanks to HarperAlley for the advanced copy!

[Jules Inman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The colors and art style in this are stunning! I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. I like that it has social anxiety representation and finding friendships in unexpected places. There were some pretty funny things going on but also some serious conversations. There were a couple of things that seemed far fetched but it is a kids book so that is to be expected. I had a fun time reading this.

[Kaitlyn Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brenna Thummler will forever amazing me with her artwork and storytelling! I loved the color palette within Gumshoe and the ending was heartwarming in the best of ways. Throughout the story, I could feel Brenna’s love for these characters and joy in her work. This is another beautiful graphic novel to add to her list of works!

Thank you Brenna for the ARC ❤️🙌

[JoAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very sweet graphic novel, very reminiscent of Holes by Louis Sacher (yes - I saw the letter addressed to him at the beginning! I think Brenna Thummler might also be a fan). I loved the theme of misfits finding each other, and I loved the Western style throughout the book - is Arizona really like that or was it meant to be somewhat Napoleon Dynamite in style? I enjoyed it!

[D.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so atmospheric. It feels a bit like an alternate Arizona/Western world because no one seemed to have cellphones.

I suspected the twist early on, but it was a fun journey to get there. Each of the little girls' backstories is so ridiculous, but it also feels perfectly in character for kids to think "they can't come back from this" for the silliest minor offenses.

Charming.

[emyrose8 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5- The colors and illustrations are fantastic. The story was a little strange and at times you have to suspend your disbelief for the story to make sense. Still, I was interested throughout and I think graphic novel enthusiasts will gobble it up.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

[Skylar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would pay good money to live in Brenna Thummler's mind for a day. this whole premise is pure childlike ridiculousness in the most entertaining way possible. the art is gorgeous and the dialogue had me laughing. it was heartfelt and whimsical and just an absolute joy the entire time 🩷