The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves 2: S.O.S, is story strong mglit

Charming is an underused and dangerous word to describe mglit. Some readers might view it as a less juvenile way to describe something when you’re tempted to use ‘cute’. The kitten is cute. The behavior of someone else’s six-year-old child is cute. The behavior of any 10-year-old does not want to be perceived as cute. That’s the sort of behavior that causes your grandmother to pinch your cheeks, and no self-respecting kid over eight wants that. The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves 2: S.O.S. by Tom Phillips, is a very charming book in the best of all possible ways. It’s mglit that’s the second one in the series and has enough humor, action, and intrigue to hook readers who are in middle school and older.

That is all the more impressive because I didn’t read Egypt’s Fire, which was the first book in The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves series. Sometimes when you jump into a story with established characters who already have their arc drawn it can be daunting or uninteresting to catch up with them. That’s not the case in S.O.S. for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, there’s a very short, two-page prologue that briefly touches on where the story was and where it’s going.

Just below the number for each chapter there’s a simple sentence that harkens to each friend episode. Chapter Three is “The time John as introduced to the Society of Slueths”. This is a great sales technique because it tells you what you’re going to read, and then lets you on your own, so that you can read it yourself. The book is written in a very self-aware style, at times resembling a journal where the main character or a greater being is recapping what’s going on. That is further complimented by Phillips’ use of detective-speak, or mannerisms that are built up from sanitized conditions to exemplify the oddity of where our duo find themselves.

For example, chapter two opens when John, our detective in training, first lays eyes on a massive floating airship. It’s not a primitive balloon. It has more in common with a regal office building that floats and serves as a luxury cruise ship but with a healthy dose of steampunk. He and Inspector Toadius McGee are about to board the craft because they’re after a convict, Shim Sham, who has escaped from prison. He escaped in the first chapter just as the two were about to question him.

Shim Sham you see, is a monkey and he had stolen a ruby that was worth a billion dollars. John and Todias have recovered the rock and are trying to find another super thief who’s intent on doing more bad deeds. Once they get on the airship John is allowed the chance to join the Society of Slueths, the titular S.O.S., but things go sideways when a group of kids using social media to get famous get in the way of John’s morals. Thankfully, all of this is contained on the airship and there’s a master criminal, an escaped thief (who is a monkey), a magician (who is related to John), and other magicians (who have a questionable past) to contend with.

Whew, that is a lot to unpack, but S.O.S. deals with everything in a self-effacing manner that keeps readers at ease. There’s a chilled-out charm (there’s that word again….) that weaves itself into every chapter of the book. The endings of the chapters maintain a taut sense of adventure, all the while adding to the climax that you think is just around the corner. Mglit readers will also be thankful that S.O.S is not too heavy on morals.

Those ages might’ve gotten stuck in their craw when we mentioned that John had things that got in the way of his morals. S.O.S. is not a preachy book about how teens or young adults should act or what they should do. This is a book that keeps it’s foot on the fun and lets the entertaining do the driving. There is a lesson, but it evolves in a ways that’s fun an empowering, instead of cringey and guilt-ridden. It’s a fun book, with intentionally flawed characters and unique situations that demonstrate the power of a good mystery and persistence.

The Curious League of Detectives and Thieves 2: S.O.S. is by Tom Phillips and is available on Pixel and Ink Books and distributed by Penguin Random House.

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