Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit

Goldie Vance #1

by Lilliam Rivera

Move over, Nancy Drew--there's a new sleuth in town! Inspired by the beloved comic series, Goldie Vance is ready to sleuth her way through never-before-seen mysteries in this original middle-grade series by Lilliam Rivera!

Marigold "Goldie" Vance lives and works at the Crossed Palms Resort Hotel in Florida with a whole slew of characters: her dad, Art, the manager of the joint; Cheryl Lebeaux, the concierge and Goldie's best friend; and Walter Tooey, the hired hotel detective. Her mom, Sylvia, works nearby at the Mermaid Club.

While life at the Crossed Palms is always busy, the resort is currently overrun with Hollywood-types filming the hottest new creature feature, and tensions are at an all-time high. Even Goldie's mom is in on the movie act, doing what she does best: playing a mermaid. Just when Goldie thinks the movie biz couldn't get any more exciting, a diamond-encrusted swimming cap goes missing, and all fingers point to Goldie's mom as the culprit. Can Goldie uncover the true thief before it's too late?

Hope Larson and Brittney William's critically acclaimed Goldie Vance comic series explores never-before-seen mysteries in this thrilling, original middle-grade debut by Lilliam Rivera. Features a full-color comic chapter that's essential to unraveling the mystery.

Genres: Middle Grade, Mystery, Graphic Novels, LGBT, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction

264 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2020

About the author

Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning author of children’s books including her latest Never Look Back, a retelling of the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice set in New York by Bloomsbury Publishing. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Elle, to name a few. Lilliam lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Cece (ProblemsOfaBookNerd)]

My queer Nancy Drew-loving heart is on cloud nine right now

[charlotte, · Rating 3 out of 5]

needed more diane

Rep: Black wlw mc, Black & Latinx side characters

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has the same high energy, go-to attitude as the comics, and it was delightful.

I love Goldie Vance, and this was a really solid novelization of the popular comics, although it was missing some key characters (Diane!! and also more of Goldie's dad and more high speed driving!). But there was a lot of Walt, which was fun, and the incomparable movie star Delphine Lucerne, along with movie magic hijinks and fun call-backs to the swimming movie star Esther Williams.

Overall, an enjoyable, fun mystery, even if the villain behind the theft was rather obvious (it's middle grade, not Christie).

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun light middle grade mystery! It was my first introduction to Goldie Vance, but I imagine a lot of readers are familiar with the comics. I liked Goldie's personality; she was a perseverant, confident sleuth who didn't take no for an answer (but feels shy about asking her crush Diane out). Some other characters needed more fleshing out, though, and the actual mystery plot didn't start until literally halfway through which was disappointing. I was also a bit confused about what the book was doing with the setting--is it some idealized 1950/60s with no homophobia and racism? (The year isn't made clear anywhere which I guess I'd deliberate?). I would have liked it to lean into the setting more, with characters' dialogue in particular (they sound like contemporary teens). Overall though, very happy to see casual queer representation in middle grade mystery! I think I would like the comics better than this prose novel (although the finished copy--I read an ARC--is supposed to have two colour inserts with scenes as comics, so that will be really cool!).

[elise · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75*
Cute middle grade!
(Although I'm not sure why the main character is 16... it still reads like a middle grade though!)

[halfirishgrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really cute and fun! I kind of wish it had been longer, because it took a while for the mystery element to get introduced, and then it got solved quite fast. In any case, I really enjoyed reading it!

[Cande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goldie Vance is a part-time valet of the Crossed Palm Resort Hotel, a part-time car racer, and a full-time amateur detective. This middle-grade novel is based on the comics by Hope Larson, following Goldie and her friends on a new adventure. When a movie is set to film in their town, Goldie is excited to meet the star of the show, a famous Hollywood actress. Things get complicated when a crime is committed under Goldie’s eyes and her mom the prime suspect. Now it’s up to her to solve the mystery and save the day.

What I like: I was nervous about the story translating from comic to a full-length novel, and I think it worked out so well. I could feel Goldie’s energy in the pages, her love, her impulsiveness, her kindness, and her loyalty. In essence, this is a very Goldie Vance story. I’m sad to say that this didn’t work out as well as I was expecting.

What I didn’t like: I didn’t like the writing, which put me off from the beginning. The short sentences make me feel like everything was disconnected and I was very annoyed. I wasn’t into Goldie’s monologue, the dialogues were boring and lifeless. I was looking forward to the puns! cuteness! you know, very Goldie’s moments, and I just wasn’t into it. The plot was okay, but I wasn’t blown away by it, maybe related to the writing too. The characters were there, but I really felt disconnected from them too.

This makes me extremely sad, I wanted to love this book. I’ve been rambling about it for so long and then… me sad forever.


Read more reviews on my blog, Cande Reads

[Nichole Thornton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, quick mystery.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bold cover featuring a brown skinned determined girl running, with a magnifying glass grasped in her hands, won't stay on the shelf a minute. The middle grade mystery matches the intrigue of the action packed cover perfectly. Sixteen-year-old Goldie, who is biracial and gay, works and lives in the Crossed Palms Resort Hotel where her Dad is the manager. Her official job is a valet, but her passion is becoming a detective, and with the too calm demeanor of the real hotel detective Walter Tooey, she is allowed to accompany him as his unofficial apprentice. The tale ramps up immediately as their hotel surprisingly is chosen to host an entire film crew, for a feature sea creature/monster movie. Goldie with her tenacious whip-smart instincts, charms the super star Delphine Lucerne of the movie, and earns Goldie the spot of protecting her. When the filming begins the unexpected occurs, Delphine's priceless jeweled encrusted bathing cap is stolen! Goldie immediately realizes this is the perfect opportunity for proving her sleuthing abilities. Perceptive and detail oriented, Goldie displays many of the skills necessary to become a successful detective. Readers will love this savvy detective with a can-do-attitude, in an updated cool version of a Nancy Drew type sleuth.

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, listen. This book isn't for me. The writing style is way too graphic (ha!) for me. You can tell it's based on a comic and that's just not for me. HOwever, I am keeping this book in my collection because I believe the children in my life WOULD enjoy it, and that's the actual demographic, so it's way more important! And I'm looking into getting the actual comics, because I feel like I would highly enjoy those.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Listened to it on audiobook. Nice, light read/listen with a good mystery! Goldie Vance is an extremely likable character and I was definitely rooting for her the whole time. I haven't read the web comics, so I don't know how this holds up, but otherwise an awesome middle grade mystery read!

Also we all stan Goldiane (yes I have come up with a ship name)

[Mae Crowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received an ARC from the publisher.

Once upon a time, all I read were mysteries. I lived off of Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children. It's been a while since it's been my favorite genre, but it's still enjoyable. I think it always will be, in a way.

Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit is a very fun, very cute story about a young detective who knows her strengths and isn't ashamed to boast them. She's a little intense at times, but it fits the story and the intended audience. Even if believing her as a sixteen-year-old takes a little effort on the older reader's part, this doesn't tend to be an issue with a middle grade audience.

The only thing I wish this book would've done differently was get into the mystery sooner and spend more of the book focusing in on that. There's a lot of set-up - the crime doesn't even occur until around the halfway point. For a book that's advertised as a mystery novel, the delay in the start and subsequent rushing through the mystery itself was disappointing. I understand the need for exposition, but it easily could have been done quicker or (preferably) in conjunction with setting up the actual plot.

And aside from everything else, I'm totally here for novels set in the past that just go, "Homophobia isn't a thing in this world, byeeeee." Seeing queer characters worked into historical settings without having the obstacles of the time present is just so refreshing.

Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit is a light-hearted middle-grade mystery novel with a confident, quick-on-her-feet main character. The story is fun, despite the slow set-up, and Goldie's voice is strong and engaging.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soooooo, if you like the Goldie Vance comics, you'll probably like this book. The writing is smooth and I liked how they inserted a couple of comic sections to continue the story,.

However, despite the fact that I think it's great to see a confident, smart, go-getting diverse female character, it's a little tiring to listen to her constantly toot her own horn about how great she is. I suppose it's just not in her personality to really have doubts or negative feelings for more than a few seconds, but it might rub less people the wrong way if she was just a little more circumspect about her abilities. She IS smart and determined and gets the job done - so maybe she could let her talents speak for themselves?

Having said that, I'm not sure how much of that was her inner monologue (meaning it's just her psychic herself up).

It's a cute book,and I'd read another.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 -- I enjoyed this! It didn't entirely have the same punch as the comics (short versus longer form, serial versus full length novel), but I think Rivera captured the characterization of everyone fairly well. The mystery was fun and twisty, and I am curious to see what adventures Goldie goes on next.

[Grace W · Rating 5 out of 5]

(c/p from my review on TheStoryGraph) 4.5 rounded up. This is such a fun mystery! I really had a great time reading this which is I think a must for Middle Grade mysteries. Love Goldie, love the side characters, love the way the story plays out. The mystery itself is fine which is why the half star but honestly? I had such a good time reading this and I will for sure read it agian.

[Rendz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read for an MG mystery! Full RTC!

[The Half-blood Reader]

OMG WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME GOLDIE VANCE WAS GETTING A NOVEL???

[mg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grateful to see that they didn't shy away from Goldie's crush! I'm hoping she plays more of a role in future novels, though.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Liz Friend · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story: Goldie wants to be a detective, and where better to get her start than apprenticing for the house detective at the hotel her dad manages? A movie crew has just arrived to film a Creature Feature, and at the center is the gorgeous Delphine Lucerne and her diamond-encrusted swim cap. When the million-dollar Bejeweled Aqua Chapeau goes missing, Goldie knows SHE has to be the one to find it--especially because her mother, a swimming mermaid, is suspect #1 in the theft.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence G; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content PG; adult themes (theft) G; overall rating PG. Best for grades 6-up.

Liz's comments: Perhaps if I had read Hope Larson's Goldie Vance series, I would have been able to figure things out a lot sooner--like the fact that the story isn't set in the present day, but in the 1960s (her friend's crush on Alan Shepherd was kind of a giveaway--but that was 100 pages in). The fact that the mystery didn't start until halfway through the story will leave true mystery fans disappointed. There are anachronisms that tripped me up too--she eats sliders at a local restaurant, and her best friend is encouraging her to "ask out" another girl Goldie has a crush on (not something people did back in those days). Plus, Goldie's dad appears to be a person of color, and it's arguable whether he would have been managing a Florida resort in the early 60s. So...are these things that MS readers will catch? Probably not. But the editors should have.

[V. Arrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute! It's a great follow-up from finishing the Nancy Drew Diaries. Goldie is a spitfire with a mile-a-minute brain and matching big mouth, and her world is really well developed and easy to sink into. There's a beautiful wistfulness baked into this alternate 1955 where there's no segregation, no racism at all, no homophobia, no violent misogyny... It's a cotton candy colored past, and I'm happy it exists at least in fiction. Goldie and her crush on Diane warmed my heart so much. I love this take on the golden age of Hollywood, the golden sands of Florida, and the golden girl of mystery.

[Celeste Haehnel]

Was I impressed? Not at all. Was there barely any mystery, absolutely. Did I have a nice time? You betcha.

[Artemis Crescent · Rating 2 out of 5]

2023 EDIT: I don't like the first 'Goldie Vance' comic volume anymore, so ignore when I praise it to high heavens here.

Back to the review:





I'd wanted to get into 'Goldie Vance' again, which is why I bought this novel version of an adventure (and I use that word extremely loosely) of hers. Sadly, I think that the first volume of the comic series is the only 'Goldie Vance' product that I can say I enjoyed greatly, because 'Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit' turned out to be another disappointment (I wasn't hot on the second comic volume either).

First, I want to mention how utterly annoying and obnoxious Goldie Vance is in this book. Maybe the girl detective's thoughtlessness, total disregard for authority and responsibility, and borderline criminal acts translate better in a colourful and cartoony comic art form. But in how she is written here in prose, she is insufferable. It's not merely that she's an interminably nosy wannabe hotel sleuth, or a brownnoser. It's that she has as much tact, discreetness and stealth as a rhinoceros set loose in Buckingham Palace. Subtlety, quiet observation, secret-keeping, and modesty - vital components for a detective - are not Goldie's forte. She's like a spoiled, grabby little child in how she handles important things, like cars that belong to hotel guests (stealing cars is practically a hobby of hers!*), jewels, and other valuables. She has no business being involved in these matters to begin with. She's like the worst YA heroine, selfish and only exacerbating trouble, sometimes even starting it in the first place (but at least she's not obsessed with a hot guy).

She. Never. Shuts. Up. Too many times throughout reading I thought, "Oh lords, ladies and goddesses, please shut up already," at her. She's not helpful in any situation!

Goldie is almost a Mary Sue here. As well as being rich with no real problems**, she conveniently makes even very famous people like her and trust her immediately, enough to be friends in ten seconds. In fact, almost everybody loves her, and not enough people tell her to shut up or get lost, not even the movie industry people.

This is an actual line in the book: 'Distracted? Boy, is Mr. Maple wrong about me. I'm enthusiastic, aware, alert, smart, organized, and outgoing.' - page 87

Hint to authors: Show, don't tell. You're writing a story, not a noun grocery list. If at any time you feel you have to write down a character's supposed personality traits in your book that should have stayed in the character's profile sheet, made before the first draft writing process, then something needs to be corrected.

Moving on now to the mystery plot, such as it is. It revolves around a movie being set in Goldie's workplace and in her home, both in Florida - the Crossed Palms Resort Hotel, and the Mermaid Club, respectively. Basically, a theft will occur. Very late in the "plot".

But what I want to bring attention to, before anything else, is how unclear the book is at the beginning when it comes to what kind of film is being made. I mean, the hotel guests in sea monster costumes are introduced in literally the first lines in the first chapter, but with all the fuss and hustle and bustle and jewelled props and security being deployed, it seems like a big budget, Hollywood Oscar bait feature film. Or at least, it's something that's high profile, starring a world famous Hollywood actress, singer and dancer. But later on, it's revealed that it's actually a monster flick; a genre flick, made for fun and not typically requiring a budget that would bring in Hollywood royalty, extravagant sets and precious jewels (that, surprise, are stolen). It becomes a plot point that the famous actress (whom Goldie befriends long before the actual mystery starts) who stars as the leading lady, is considered by a few of her peers to be working far beneath her. That this isn't a "real film", by the actress's professional standards. But I'd thought that it was a real, important big budget film up until then. It was made to appear that way! Or is the criticism just snobbery, because the film is about mermaids and other sea creatures? I doubt it. It's inconsistent writing.

Other writing problems: So, when does the plot start? When does the mystery occur? When does anything significant actually happen?

At about page 145! Which is nearly 100 pages from the end! How do you get away with that? There's so much dithering around and padding in the beginning and middle. No wonder I got bored (as well as annoyed by Goldie) quickly.

Another thing that's stupid: The Crossed Palms Resort Hotel, which is gobsmackingly famous and ritzy, has a beehive on its property. Hotel beekeeper is a job there. Why the ever-loving, flock-me-Amadeus-Smith would a resort hotel have beehives?! That sounds exceedingly hazardous to me! I know I wouldn't want to stay at a hotel where there are swarms of bees around, and I would be anxious and unable to tell the difference between the buzzing of a heater and the other kind! Hotel beekeepers can apparently casually walk around in the lobby, in their suits, no commotion to be expressed! What do the staff tell the guests who are allergic to bee stings? Not good for business! The beehives could be where the resort receives its honey (it's never stated), but it's wealthy enough that it could afford to have honey imported from another source somewhere else!

Diane, Goldie Vance's love interest in the comics and cool chick extraordinaire, is barely in the book. She is literally on the sidelines the entre time, existing only to be admired from a distance occasionally by Goldie, to fuel her ask-her-out-already character development, which is hardly touched on. Diane doesn't do anything! She doesn't even have any lines until the final three pages! She plays no practical role in the story whatsoever. She might as well not exist. For an LBGTQ rep and relationship to be pushed far into a corner like this, it is disgraceful.

Speaking of wasted characters from the comics, Goldie's nemesis, Sugar Maple, is only mentioned once; she isn't in the story proper. Where is she? Her father, Mr. Maple the Crossed Palms owner, is present and prominent in the story, so why isn't she? Will she show up in the sequel? Conflict comes from the characters created for this book. Terrific.

Goldie also ends up easily trusting a tabloid reporter and prime suspect, called Scoops Malone (yes, really), who's a shady bastard if there ever was one. He sings her praises and inflates her already vast ego. Why?

Plot twist involving character relations being kept secret pointlessly for the sake of the mystery to work is pointless.

More pointlessness: The two comic inclusions, which are eight pages each of the familiar comic art depicting what is happening in the middle and near the end of the book, are unnecessary. Prose should remain prose, otherwise it's gimmicky and tacky. The comic pages' function is to remind me that I could be reading the first volume of the graphic novel series instead of the tedious and dumb novel.

Final negative criticism: I saved the worst till last. On page 26, Walter Tooley, the hotel's detective and longsuffering pushover for Goldie, says to her, "Mr. Maple, our boss, [...]". That line goes beyond the classic writing mistake of characters telling other characters what they should already know. At that point, the reader knows who Mr. Maple is. He's been mentioned. And oh yeah, Goldie hasn't just worked at the hotel for a while and should therefore know her boss's name, she's known him since she was at least six-years-old . She was friends-to-enemies with his daughter! He was her dad's boss long before he was hers. It was at that moment in reading that I first fully realised 'Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit' is an amateur novel, that should have gone through major proofreading before publication.

(Also, why were the actors staying at the resort always wearing their sea creature and mermaid costumes? Do they go out in public wearing them? Is there no costume and dress storage?)

A positive note I can give 'The Hotel Whodunit' is that it contains a character who is a high-power male movie executive, who is criticised for shouting a lot when things don't go his way, and is generally a corrupt, arrogant, chauvinistic jackass with more money than sense. He is castigated and mocked constantly. I'm sure this is meant to be a micro-representation of the #MeToo movement. It's watered down in order to fit in with children's lit sensibilities, but I appreciate the inclusion, nonetheless.

It's easy to picture the settings and the sights of Florida in the colourful and breezy descriptions. I like the mermaid and undersea aesthetic that comes with the Mermaid Club, and with the movie set. Introspective words of wisdom about Hollywood and what fame does to people are imparted a few times. Goldie's relationship with her mother, a mermaid actress, is nice, too - it's the only relationship in the whole book I genuinely believed in.

Overall, 'Goldie Vance: The Hotel Whodunit' is a boring, not-very-well-written and no-stakes book for me. It's a shame that I can't be excited about Goldie Vance's adventures anymore, or find her to be a worthy, competent teen girl sleuth. I'll stick to the first issues of the comics from now on.

Final Score: 2/5



*Technically, it's joyriding, what she does to guests' cars. It's not any better, nor does it negate the cars she steals in order to solve cases.

**No problems, despite her being a biracial lesbian in the 1960s. With divorced parents. In Florida. I suppose I could accept this nice escapism in the comics; not here, where the plot is so dumb and flat, as are the characters, that it makes it easier to nitpick.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an alternate 1960s in which racial tension doesn’t exist, 16-year-old Goldie works for a resort hotel in a small Florida tourist town. Her father also works at the hotel, and her mother, who is divorced from her father, is a "mermaid" at a club nearby. Goldie works as a valet parking cars, but her real goal is to be the hotel detective. When a movie company arrives to film in the town, using the mermaid club and housing people at the hotel, Goldie is excited that a celebrity will be staying with them. She's even more excited to find out that the hotel will be responsible for a priceless diamond encrusted swimming cap for the "mermaid queen." And when that swimming cap goes missing, and Goldie’s mother gets blamed, Goldie has to to turn detective to save her mother.

This was a light mystery, and there was a lot about it that I enjoyed. I thought the setting was well done, and the mermaid club was a lot of fun – I’ve seen stories about clubs like that in which you can watch “mermaids" swimming giant tanks. I liked that a couple of times the story went to graphic novel format, since the series is originally a graphic novel series (this is the first traditional novel). I liked that Goldie has a crush on a young woman who works at the local record store, and it’s no big deal other than that she can’t get up the nerve to ask the girl out. The mystery overall was OK, but for one major, major part of it— the whereabouts of the stolen gemstones – the reader never finds out what happened, and nobody seems concerned about it. That seemed pretty bizarre since the gemstones were kind of the whole impetus behind the mystery in the first place. So that part left me confused. I went back and reread the chapter a couple of times to see if I had missed something, but I couldn’t figure out what it happened. So if you don’t mind a mystery that isn’t 100% solved, this was a fun read.

[Jamie Canaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to Florida where Goldie Vance works as a valet at the resort her father manages but really she’s always up in the in-house detectives business because Goldie has a one-track mind and it’s always focused on solving a mystery. For the first half of the book you get to know her and her friends, also working at the hotel, her mermaid performing mother, the in-house detective, how the hotel runs, and that there’s a monster movie being filmed there. The big case starts halfway through when a prized piece of costume jewelry is stolen! Nothing will get in Goldie’s way of figuring out what happened, especially when fingers point at her mother as the thief.

This is the first in a series and is based on the Goldie Vance comics–if you’ve already read those, the mystery is new but the book is introducing Goldie, her family, and friends to potentially new readers, which, as someone who loves Goldie, was a great re-welcome for me. If you’re excited for more Goldie and Diane, you’ll have to wait until the end of this one and the next book as Goldie 100% makes her crush known, but she stays focused on work and the mystery until the end when it’s solved. If you love young sleuths who charge ahead to help and solve mysteries, are kind, and fun you’ll love Goldie and her family and friends.

--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...

[Vera Elwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved being transported back into the world of Goldie Vance. As a huge fan of the graphic novels, I was so excited to see a novel version, but I was dubious when I saw the original writer was not involved. Lilliam Rivera did not disappoint, however. Goldie's spunk, sass, and smarts were just as big, bold, and brash on the written page as the drawn one. The adventure was a little underwhelming compared to the capers Goldie gets up to in the graphic novels, but I appreciated the added world building and character development.
I really only had two negative takeaways: First, there wasn't nearly enough romance subplot for me. I wanted to spend more time in the record shop getting to know Goldie's crush. Second, and I can't believe I'm saying this, the graphic novel pages were not a particularly useful addition to the story overall. Had they been more frequently included or even included earlier, it would have been a fun nod to the character's graphic origin while also giving us a feel for what the sea creatures actually looked like. Instead, they were randomly thrown in during the last third of the book and it felt like they simply hadn't had time to write out the plot, so they had to draw it (yes, I know graphic novels take a long time to produce! It's just the feeling it gave). Either the graphic novel needed to be mroe consistent or it shouldn't have been there at all.

[Kera’s Always Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goldie is a sleuth, and a pretty darn good one! She works with a bunch of fun characters at the Crossed Palms Resort and lives there too, with her father Art. She spends as much time as she can next door at the place her mom, Sylvia works, The Mermaid Club. I loved her family. Her mom and dad divorced because they knew they were better as best friends (how sweet)... Her best friend Cheryl is the hotel concierge and the two of them are constantly running around the place.

Right now, though, the resort is overrun with people because a new creature feature is being filmed in town. That is why when Delphine, the stunning actress arrives security is amped up. At The Mermaid Club, Delphine is shooting a very important scene in which she is swimming with a gorgeous diamond encrusted swim cap. The lights go out and when they come back on and people are searching for the cap, they find it to be missing. And Sylvia is the lead suspect.

Now, Goldie has to do what she does best to save her mom from taking the blame. And it was so fun!! The characters were all so colorful and great. The story was fun and moved at such a great pace. I am not one to go for middle grade, but this was a treat!

[Alex (Pucksandpaperbacks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars -

I really enjoyed the mystery aspect and it had me on edge trying to guess whodunit. I was glad that the author didn’t make the culprit easy to discover. I definitely thought it was a different character and was surprised when it was revealed to be someone else. The mystery was written really well. However, the build up to the mystery is very slow and comes in at 147 pages.

I did have some issues with the characters age - which I’m wondering *if* it is purely for the sake that this book is targeted for children ages 7-12 - because she is a sixteen year old but sounds very childish and adults refer to her/treat her like a child.

The author includes messages about how Hollywood objectifies women and feminism which were done very well. Goldie is also a queer character and has a crush on a girl, Diane. I really enjoyed that she was crushing on a girl and it wouldn’t have mattered to me if there was no end game because it’s such a real part of a teenager’s life to be crushing on someone and have it not go anywhere.

I would recommend this for children to read!

[Abbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book by Lilliam Rivera is an adaptation of the comics by Hope Larsen, and I was honestly disappointed. I really wanted to like this book, but it just doesn't really work. The mystery doesn't even get started until halfway through the book, and I'm not sure why because nothing happens in the first half. There is very little characterization, and Goldie's friends seem like meaningless shoutouts. It really seems like something is missing like there was some previous chapter that introduced these characters and their relationships. Even Goldie herself is lacking in characterization. She's often annoying and acts like a precocious ten year old, but she is sixteen! I think kids would be drawn in by the great cover art but then give up 20 pages into the story.

Read more at Bookish Adventures.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of the Goldie Vance comics since they first began, and this novel absolutely reads like a prose version of the comics. Goldie, a 16-year-old parking valet and apprentice house detective at the Florida resort her father manages, is just as eager and inquisitive as she is on the comics page. This book also really captures the sense of community and location that the comics have, with Goldie working with her friends and family at familiar locations within their resort town. The story--featuring the theft of a valuable prop against the backdrop of a film set--has just enough mystery and intrigue without feeling either overly complicated or overly simple. Ultimately, it's an involving story as much for the characters as it is for the mystery. And the addition of a couple of chapters in comics format is icing on the cake!