The clue of the linoleum lederhosen

In need of a vacation after their last laser-beam-filled adventure, Lily, Jasper, and Katie have flown off for a restful stay at a distant mountain lodge, which just so happens to be hosting a gathering for characters from other middle-grade series novels.

Two - the marvellous Manley Boys - look suspiciously like a pair of crime-solving brothers named Frank and Joe Hardy.

Two others are a pair of boy-crazy twin sisters who attend a high school in some sweet valley somewhere. And then there are the Hooper Quints, who, along with a wealthy heiress' priceless diamond necklace, have suddenly gone missing.

Does it surprise you that the supposedly "on vacation" Katie, Jasper, and Lily are the only ones around who have the chops to solve this challenging mystery?

National Book Award finalist M. T. Anderson has done it again with this second volume of his riotous and wonderfully weird new series.