Agnes Quill: An Anthlogy of Mystery

Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery presents four adventures of the teenaged detective who has the ability to see spirits and communicate with the dead. The setting is the marvelously constructed city of Legerdemain, a modern day Victorian city filled with dark secrets. Agnes is kind of a spunkier, more action-oriented version of the hit TV show Ghost Whisperer. She helps spirits find their way into the afterlife, but usually only after avoiding a lot of trouble for herself. In the opening tale "The Mummified Woman and the Divided Man", Agnes has to help the spirit of an elderly woman locate a precious family heirloom, that happens to be buried within her body and later must help a man locate his missing legs. It's a haunting, but lively story, beautifully illustrated by Jason Ho. "Zombie Lovetrap and Buried Homes & Gardens" finds Agnes helping a man whose ex-wife has cursed him by causing all of ex-girlfriends to rise from the dead as flesh eating zombies to take their revenge on him. Agnes then meets a society of people who live below the surface of the streets in their own little world. But someone is trying to wipe them out by shutting off their power and Agnes has to solve the mystery before it's too late. This story is illustrated by Jeff Zornow. In addition to the stories, the book also has several interesting extras including a field guide to Agnes' world and the various supporting characters. There are also several excerpts from Agnes' journal. All the stories are written by Dave Roman. This is one of those books perfectly suited for black & white. The art is great throughout and it's a great diversion to everyday graphic novels. A fun read from SLG Publishing. Reviewed by Tim Janson