Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor

Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor cover

If I was to describe the concept of Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor, I would say “what if a mommy blogger wrote Rear Window?”

Rebecca is a new mother, about to end her maternity leave. She’s up late feeding baby Lucie when she sees someone loading something into a white van. Then she hears that one of the neighbors is missing. She decides to investigate and starts asking people questions about him and what happened, in between tasks like selecting a day care and exercise class. Most people have no problem talking to a woman carrying around a small child, particularly one so fearless.

Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor cover

Pascal Girard previously wrote Petty Theft, which is similarly billed as observational humor. He’s a fan of strong format, with every page a six-panel, lineless grid. His comic doesn’t have flow so much as a series of moments. The small images are brief glimpses of everyday life, with potential amusement coming from seeing Rebecca ask detective-like questions about suspects while changing a baby or breastfeeding.

It’s not a proper mystery, but what is these days? It has much in common with many of the modern cozies I’ve read, as a woman wanders around being curious until she finally pushes too far and it all falls apart. (The publisher provided a review copy.)



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