Bringing to mind such popular puzzlers as the Where's Waldo? books and the works of Colin Thompson, Burnie (Monumental Mazes) plunks readers into a teeming cityscape to sleuth out a bandit, his booty, his trail and the two suave detectives tailing him. Fabrizzi is the perp's name, theft is his game. While figuring out what Fabrizzi has swiped—everything from a bust (lifted from the museum) to a wig to a potty—isn't overly taxing, Burnie ups the ante considerably with multiple challenges, e.g., asking readers to track Fabrizzi's convoluted path through mazes of streets, sewer pipes and market stalls. Burnie's full-scale, highly detailed paintings cover every inch of the pages, using cutaways, aerial views and other dramatic angles to reveal city highways, byways, hallways and stairways. He happily complicates the proceedings with lookalikes and red herrings galore. (Solutions are offered at the end.) Sophisticated artwork and a distinctive retro flavor (fashions, automobile styling and other decor suggest the gangster era of the '20s and '30s) give the book added pizzazz. Ages 8-11. (May)
