A review by poorsapadvocate
Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grande Chateau, by Cecil H. H. Mills

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The Venn Diagram between "people who use goodreads" and "Game Grumps fans" must be very thin, but there is at least a little overlap because I'm here. And I'm a little worried that a lot of people are going to skip this one over because it a "Game Grumps book".  The fact is you don't need any understanding of, or even have to like, Game Grumps to really like this book. If you're in the mood for a funny Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys-style mystery, this is the book for you. The actual mystery is less of a whodunit (although there are elements of that) and more of a treasure hunt, based not on ruling out suspects and uncovering clues but on solving puzzles and having an adventure. Said puzzles have the right balance between challenging enough to warrant solving but not so difficult that the average young adult reading them can't solve it or the answer comes out of nowhere. Who the mastermind is is also very solvable if you pay attention (although I don't think we ever figured out what was up with the henchperson and why they wanted to help, maybe they talked about it and I just missed it?). Speaking of "who", the thing that really sets this book apart is its characters. It's hard to determine who contributed what to each aspects of the story considering even the copyright page credits the author as Game Grumps, but Arin Hansen has a real talent for creating really fun characters and that shines through here. Every character has a distinctive trope that fits them in to this kind of story, from Eccentric Writer to Bitter Ex-Wife to Cop Who Just Wants These Stupid Kids to Stop Showing Up at the Crime Scene, but they're all handled in such a way that makes them feel simultaneously believable and lend themselves well to jokes. Even Truci, the one that's supposed to become the brains of the operation, still does her own sound effects as she rushing around trying to solve things. My favorite is Marcella; she starts off almost 0ver-the-top ridiculous but when you actually discover what her deal is, she becomes very likeable very fast. And, of course, there's the "author". Dr. Cecil H. H. Mills. Mills is just a very funny concept that lends itself well to jokes: the reclusive author who has almost certainly committed crimes and despises the fact that his "talents" are relegated to writing stupid stories for kids. Think Lemony Snicket but with less depression and far more snark. Like Lemony Snicket, it's often a lot more fun to figure out what's going on with the author than it is to figure out what's going on with the kids. But without giving too much away, the way Cecil interacts with the universe of the story is really fascinating and weird and so so so much fun. That's the best thing I can say about this book: it's very fun. If you're looking for a fun mystery with fun characters and an even more fun framing device, do yourself a favor and pick this up.
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