Impossible Crime - (Mac B., Kid Spy) by Mac Barnett (Hardcover)

About the Book

Mac B. is back the newest installment of this totally smart and sidesplittingly funny new seriesEand this time, a new enemy is after the Crown Jewels! Will Mac solve this locked-room mystery in time? Illustrations.

Book Synopsis

Mac B. is back... and this time, a new enemy is after the Crown Jewels! Will Mac solve this locked-room mystery in time?

An instant New York Times bestseller!The Crown Jewels are in danger... again! When the jewels go missing from inside a locked room, Mac's spy skills are put to the test. How did the thief break in? Where did the jewels go? And will Mac be able to solve this locked room mystery before the thief escapes? This mystery isn't just a whodunit... it's a howdunit!The action in this adventure is nonstop, as Mac travels to an ancient Irish castle to solve the mystery. There, he encounters everything from killer king cobras to bizarre ice sculptures... and even a revenge plot dating back hundreds of years! Will you be able to solve the mystery before Mac does? Also features historical facts masterfully woven throughout the plot, and full-color illustrations on every page. Don't miss the installment of this totally smart and sidesplittingly funny New York Times bestselling series, Mac B., Kid Spy.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Impossible Crime (Mac B., Kid Spy #2): : An instant New York Times bestseller!Barnett opens his casebook again-this time to solve a classic locked-room mystery...Almost every page contains Lowery's illustrations, loosely drawn and garishly colored in green and orange, which give the whole affair a zany feel that is much enhanced by the narrative with its running gags. Kudos to a pint-size Poirot, pre-Mustache! - BooklistBarnett's signature dry wit and snappy back-and-forths, particularly between the ingenuously sincere Mac and the standoffish Queen, keep the story steadily moving forward; a convoluted historical account of Colonel Blood's attempted robbery...Lowery's cartoony spot art, in black, green, and orange, provides additional historical and cultural information and frequently supports the narrative. - Horn BookBarnett and Lowery team up again in this second outing of international espionage mystery with royal overtones... this is a nifty mystery for young readers and a worthy sequel to the first. - Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Mac Undercover (Mac B., Kid Spy #1): A New York Times bestseller!An Amazon Best Book of 2018* Barnett and Lowery bring the funny to the serious art of espionage in a perfect interplay of text and illustration...Barnett interweaves tidbits of global history fit for trivia lovers, while Lowery's comic-style images play a key role in the humor...Told with a sense of nostalgia for 1980s history and pop culture, the silliness and originality of this book will hook young readers. -- School Library Journal, starred reviewBarnett takes his readers on a fun-filled ride...Barnett's tone throughout the story is humorous, lighthearted, and a little glib, and the over-the-top story is sure to appeal to many readers...an enjoyable romp that will leave readers salivating for the sequel. -- Kirkus Reviews[Barnett's] riotous series debut as an adult recalling a 1980s childhood caper...goofy, two-color pictures by Lowery (the Doodle Adventure series) ramp up the silliness of this adventure...which should snare even the most hesitant readers. --Publishers WeeklyBarnett's knack for both quirky situational humor and heartfelt sentiment work in tandem to create a balanced-while still outrageous-early-chapter-book caper. Lowery's frequent cartoony black, yellow, and blue spot illustrations are integral to the narrative, providing clues to eagle-eyed readers and enhancing the humor. --The Horn BookBarnett's series falls squarely in line with works from Jon Scieszka's and Dav Pilkey's oeuvres, offering kids another solid choice for what to read next. -- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's BooksFunny as a crumpet. (But truly, secretly a hundred times smarter.)--Jon Scieszka, author of Caldecott Honor The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and the New York Times bestselling series Frank Einstein.With a perfectly absurd premise, dialogue that demands outlandish accents, and a plot that interweaves global history and complete silliness, Barnett royally nails it. --Abby Hanlon, author of the Dory Fantasmagory series.Praise for Top Secret Smackdown (Mac B., Kid Spy #3): Exciting action sneakily infused with points about the relationship between reality and story, delivered by a narrator who can claim with literal truth that he saved the day on porpoise. --- Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Mac Barnett: [Mac Barnett is] a great young writer of books for young people. If you haven't read his work, run somewhere and do that. Books for young people have a rich and I daresay limitless future--knock anyone who says otherwise into a ditch--and Mac has a central place within that limitless future. Don't bet against him or anyone like him. --Dave Eggers[In Barnett's books] there is no magic solution to any problem: The characters stumble through their dilemmas just as every one of us does. The world is a difficult yet good place, and there is no need for the typical rose-colored lenses that other children's books put on situations in order to fend off the bad stuff. --Yiyun LiHe is a believer that picture books can have Swiftian absurdity and untidy endings, and that 'life is absurd, and kids know that.'-- The San Francisco Chronicle

About The Author

MAC BARNETT is the New York Times bestselling author of many picture books, including Extra doux and Max et Sam creusent, creusent, creusent . . ., both illustrated by Jon Klassen and both Caldecott Honor Award winners. He is also the co-author of the bestselling Terrible Two series with Jory John. Mac lives in Berkeley, California.

Mike Lowery is a New York Times bestselling illustrator who has worked on dozens of award-winning books for kids including The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School, Mac B, Kid Spy by Mac Barnett, How to Be A T.Rex, and many others. He's also written several books, including the Doodle Adventures series of graphic novels for kids and Random Illustrated Facts: A Collection of Curious, Weird, and Totally Not Boring Things to Know which collects his drawings of super-weird and totally true facts. Visit him online at mikelowery.com