Meddling Kids Is A Fun Take On Scooby Doo
What happens when a bunch of teenage investors (think Scooby Doo) run into a case that’s more than a man in a mask? Meddling Kids is what happens.
I grew up with Scooby Doo but I didn’t. I caught the classic episodes on syndication, not on Saturday morning.
But it was still one of my favorites. I liked it so much that I had no problems going to the theater as an adult to watch the live action movie.
That said, when I heard of a mildly related book called Meddling Kids, I bought it without hesitation and devoured the words inside.
And I wasn’t disappointed.
Meddling Kids follows the adult counterparts to Scooby and the gang. Their names and the dog breed were changed, but the archetypes were the same.
But in this world, the Blayton Summer Detective Club’s last case was more than a guy in a rubber mask. There was still a guy in mask, but there was something else going on.
That something else damaged them. Nate (Shaggy) was in and out of psychiatric wards, Peter (Fred) committed suicide, our narrator Andy (Velma) became a drifter that accrued fighting skills, and Kerri (Daphne) couldn’t turn her biology degrees into a job and worked as a bartender in New York City.
The group disbanded until Andy talks the surviving members into going back to their last case, hoping to uncover the real mystery.
It’s your classic “who done it” with supernatural elements and some light adult language. While there aren’t any real surprises in Meddling Kids, the story was entertaining and fun to read.
Kyla Garcia, the author, cleanly handled the multi-character dialog, kept the chase and action scenes easy to follow, and sprinkled in a lesbian love story without being heavy handed about it.
Garcia has a simple story that he tells quite well. He doesn’t waste time with subtext or many secondary storylines.
I’m not a fast reader, but I burned through Meddling Kids in a couple of days. The longest reading session was about two hours. So any voracious reader or someone bored on a weekend would plow through the pages in no time.
Meddling Kids is a fun story for anyone that enjoyed Scooby Doo as a kid (or adult). I’d recommend picking this up if you need something light, quick, and entertaining.
