Meddling Kids review

{Spoiler Free}

Meddling Kids is a homage to Scooby-Doo and Mystery Incorporated. The novel is written by Edgar Cantero and it tells the story of a former children’s detective group who return to their hometown to close a not-so-finished case. Cantero has rapper-esque wordplay on display that is truly excellent. He’s at his best when he’s stringing together punchline-like quotables. This gives the novel a distinctive personality, much like the source material that it is influenced by.

The novel itself is a bit inconsistent. Cantero does a good job of misdirecting on the route that you believe it will take. This is good because the novel itself isn’t predictable, differing itself from Scooby-Doo. The beginning has an extraordinarily trite scene which is a double letdown because it is largely unnecessary. Not too far later on, it felt as if Cantero wrote himself into a corner early in the novel and needed to pull a string to get out and start the plot. This scene felt cartoonish and silly, making the novel difficult to read past this point.

But I did keep reading and the story improved. We already had the character’s backstory but seeing them interact with one another is one of the better parts of the novel. The main characters have very distinctive personalities, contrasting one another but I’m not sure if they ever really complement each other. I see how they are different and what unique trait each of them offers, but there is a level of awkwardness between our leads that seems accurate for childhood friends reconnecting as adults who mutually forgot to keep in touch. The group dynamic is also awkward and disjointed, but ironically natural. The group doesn’t really have chemistry but it works and plays out how I feel people who are essentially strangers, would interact when thrust into a crisis together. Cantero plays on the “too many chefs in the kitchen” idiom well with the way each of the leads are not trying to step on one another’s toes. This is subtle but well written by Cantero.

The motivation to get the gang back together works initially but has holes in it by the conclusion. Cantero does do a good job of enchanting the reader with a curious mystery. It gets pretty zany but it meshes nicely with the overall tone of the novel. Cantero deserves praise for telling a story with an excellent balance of personable charm with dark subject matter. I personally didn’t find it predictable but other’s more astute with Scooby Doo could possibly have telegraphed the villain.

I didn’t care for the mechanism the plot took to reach its climax. It was a bit convoluted and difficult to follow. There are multiple moments where I question why there wasn’t more debate amongst the characters on whether or not this quest was worth continuing. The initial justification is a bit flimsy within the story, but as it continues it does become apparent that they need to stay. The reader wondering if the case is worth pursuing doesn’t bold well for an engaging story. One could say that it adds to the mystery, but that only works if the initial justification is legitimate, which unfortunately, is not.

The novel hits its stride once the shoe drops and it shows its hand. The novel makes sense and is worth the patience once the mystery is revealed. At this point it comes down to how patient the reader is. Not that the first 200 pages or so are laborious to read through, but Cantero needed to establish a stronger rationale for the group to return to finish the case. A flimsy reason is given that later doesn’t hold up.

Meddling Kids is a flawed but charming story. It accomplishes what HBO’s Velma seems to be striving towards. There are moments where the plot and motivations are incoherent but ultimately it does do a solid job of creating an adult version of Scooby-Doo. Cantero deserves credit for making an adult iteration of a childhood cartoon without oversexualizing the leads. I’m not a prude, but creators become reliant on sex to adultize stories. The violence of the story – like the tone – matches the subject matter well. It does a great balance of being violent but maintaining a cloud of black humor that keeps it at bay from dipping into depravity. Those looking for a likable mystery that doesn’t take itself too seriously should pick Meddling Kids up. Those not as familiar or as big of a fan of Scooby-Doo may find the plot flawed because of shaky motivations, but it is still a unique story that gives a solid salute to Scoob and the gang.

-----6.4/10