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Detective Beans #2
Detective Beans: Adventures in Cat Town
The world's cutest cat detective is back on the case.
Detective Beans comes to the aid of her fellow villagers, searching for a cooky thief (with surprising results!), aiding a deceptive duck in the recovery of lost goods, and even doing his best to help a confused bear prove that the moon is made of cheese.
In addition to these small capers, Adventures in Cat Town features behind-the-scenes footage of the crime-solving documentary directed by Beans best friend, Biscuits, as well as comics, stories, and even horoscopes illustrated by Beans himself.
Detective Beans comes to the aid of her fellow villagers, searching for a cooky thief (with surprising results!), aiding a deceptive duck in the recovery of lost goods, and even doing his best to help a confused bear prove that the moon is made of cheese.
In addition to these small capers, Adventures in Cat Town features behind-the-scenes footage of the crime-solving documentary directed by Beans best friend, Biscuits, as well as comics, stories, and even horoscopes illustrated by Beans himself.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published May 27, 2025
28 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
About the author
Li Chen
6 books53 followersLi Chen lives in Hamilton, New Zealand. When she's not working on comics, you can find her wandering around the neighbourhood petting local cats. (Don't tell her cats though, they'll get jealous)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
August 6, 2025
In a Nutshell: A children’s graphic novel about a young cat detective and his (mis)adventures in Cat Town. Anecdotal in style, with multiple adventures: some short, some long. Adorable illustrations. Silly and fun all the way! Recommended to the right age group: beginner independent readers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost as impossible to resist a cat book titled “Detective Beans” as to resist cat toe beans, right? When I saw the title, I expected a fun-filled graphic novel full of confuddling cases and clever detective work. Well, I did get most of this. What I didn’t expect was for the lead character to be a cat of school-going age! 😹
This graphic novel is the second in the Detective Beans series. Sadly, my library doesn’t yet have a copy of the first book, so I had to jump directly into this. But as this is just a children’s book, there is no major hurdle in comprehension. It is quite easy to know the characters and their personalities from the little snippets we see.
The book has three main characters: young Beans, who tries to find time for his “career” as a detective after he is done with school and homework and chores; Biscuits, Beans’ BFF who keeps his ego in check with her grounded comments; and Beans’ Mom, who encourages and tolerates her son’s antics in equal measure. I love all three characters, but Biscuits, even in her relatively limited appearance, is perhaps my favourite.
Beans is quite an amusing character. There is no consistency to his knowledge; he knows some cool adult stuff, but he is also ignorant about some fairly common facts. This young fella has a passion for sleuthing, but let’s just say that his skill still needs some refinement. 😸 This odd combination results in some entertaining “cases”. Beans claims that most of his cases are resolved successfully. I shall leave it to you to analyse his actual success ratio on reading the graphic novel.
The book is more like an anthology containing thirty-three stories ranging from 1 page to 18 pages long. As such, the jump from one story to another is often too quick. This could feel a bit too disjointed for little ones, but the advantage is that they don’t need to read the whole book at a go. A few of the stories could have benefitted from a bit more padding-up.
Don’t assume that ‘thirty-three’ indicates thirty-three cases for Beans to solve. There are indeed some cases in this set, but most of the entries are more about getting to know Beans through his daily life. A couple of the stories are comics drawn by Beans, depicting himself as a world-famous super sleuth; these are really funny. Some “stories” are just humorous inserts by Beans in the form of newspaper articles about something mysterious happening in Cat Town.
The whole set is presented in the form of a video-recorded memoir being shot by Biscuits. We get a glimpse of the recording process as well, including the bloopers committed on camera by Beans, his ponderings over a few cases, and Biscuits questioning him on the veracity of some of his claims. This adds much humour of the book.
The writing is great for the target age of 8-10 years, though it might also work well for 6-7 year olds with adult guidance. The text contains a few misspellings and spoonerisms. The latter is hilarious; the former is on the lines of similar deliberate “typos” like the ones made in Dav Pilkey’s books. I am not a huge fan of misspellings in children’s fiction as children might assume those to be accurate spellings, but at times, it does add to the laughter index. Most of the jokes are apt for the right audience. A few inside jokes (the likes of “Et tu, Birdus?”) might go over kids’ heads as they won't have any context for these.
The illustrations are quite adorable. I did think a frog was a parrot (Whoopsie!), but the rest of the character sketches are spot on. There’s a good mix of colours, the emotions and facial expressions are outstanding, and the lettering is perfect with a clear and nicely-rounded sans serif typeface.
The book includes a couple of Activity puzzles at the end – a cool bonus.
Overall, this is an entertaining graphic story collection that ought to deliver well for the target audience of grades 2-5. It will be a great gift for comic lovers and little cat lovers who have just started independent reading.
4 stars.
My thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing the DRC of “Detective Beans: Adventures in Cat Town” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
|| My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost as impossible to resist a cat book titled “Detective Beans” as to resist cat toe beans, right? When I saw the title, I expected a fun-filled graphic novel full of confuddling cases and clever detective work. Well, I did get most of this. What I didn’t expect was for the lead character to be a cat of school-going age! 😹
This graphic novel is the second in the Detective Beans series. Sadly, my library doesn’t yet have a copy of the first book, so I had to jump directly into this. But as this is just a children’s book, there is no major hurdle in comprehension. It is quite easy to know the characters and their personalities from the little snippets we see.
The book has three main characters: young Beans, who tries to find time for his “career” as a detective after he is done with school and homework and chores; Biscuits, Beans’ BFF who keeps his ego in check with her grounded comments; and Beans’ Mom, who encourages and tolerates her son’s antics in equal measure. I love all three characters, but Biscuits, even in her relatively limited appearance, is perhaps my favourite.
Beans is quite an amusing character. There is no consistency to his knowledge; he knows some cool adult stuff, but he is also ignorant about some fairly common facts. This young fella has a passion for sleuthing, but let’s just say that his skill still needs some refinement. 😸 This odd combination results in some entertaining “cases”. Beans claims that most of his cases are resolved successfully. I shall leave it to you to analyse his actual success ratio on reading the graphic novel.
The book is more like an anthology containing thirty-three stories ranging from 1 page to 18 pages long. As such, the jump from one story to another is often too quick. This could feel a bit too disjointed for little ones, but the advantage is that they don’t need to read the whole book at a go. A few of the stories could have benefitted from a bit more padding-up.
Don’t assume that ‘thirty-three’ indicates thirty-three cases for Beans to solve. There are indeed some cases in this set, but most of the entries are more about getting to know Beans through his daily life. A couple of the stories are comics drawn by Beans, depicting himself as a world-famous super sleuth; these are really funny. Some “stories” are just humorous inserts by Beans in the form of newspaper articles about something mysterious happening in Cat Town.
The whole set is presented in the form of a video-recorded memoir being shot by Biscuits. We get a glimpse of the recording process as well, including the bloopers committed on camera by Beans, his ponderings over a few cases, and Biscuits questioning him on the veracity of some of his claims. This adds much humour of the book.
The writing is great for the target age of 8-10 years, though it might also work well for 6-7 year olds with adult guidance. The text contains a few misspellings and spoonerisms. The latter is hilarious; the former is on the lines of similar deliberate “typos” like the ones made in Dav Pilkey’s books. I am not a huge fan of misspellings in children’s fiction as children might assume those to be accurate spellings, but at times, it does add to the laughter index. Most of the jokes are apt for the right audience. A few inside jokes (the likes of “Et tu, Birdus?”) might go over kids’ heads as they won't have any context for these.
The illustrations are quite adorable. I did think a frog was a parrot (Whoopsie!), but the rest of the character sketches are spot on. There’s a good mix of colours, the emotions and facial expressions are outstanding, and the lettering is perfect with a clear and nicely-rounded sans serif typeface.
The book includes a couple of Activity puzzles at the end – a cool bonus.
Overall, this is an entertaining graphic story collection that ought to deliver well for the target audience of grades 2-5. It will be a great gift for comic lovers and little cat lovers who have just started independent reading.
4 stars.
My thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing the DRC of “Detective Beans: Adventures in Cat Town” via Edelweiss+. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
|| My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||
May 17, 2025
Beans is back, and I am a FAN! Waxing lyrical about this book with unbridled enthusiasm to my coworkers, the words "release of the year" did, in fact, leave my lips. That might seem unremarkable except for the fact that I am a twenty-eight-year-old woman and not at all the intended audience, but how could you not be a fan of this plucky feline kid-sleuth?! If Detective Beans himself were writing this review, I am sure he would say Adventures in Cat Town is on par with other great literary works such as the esteemed Sherlock Holmes novels...and I would have to agree with him.
As a person with the attention span of a goldfish and the startling ability to end up scrolling social media within 0.075342 seconds of cracking open a book, I found the short story format incredibly effective. It is perfect for children who are just starting to read independently as it is very easy to pick up and put down again. Well actually, it's quite hard to do the putting down part but you get the gist.
It frequently had me squawking with laughter and exclaiming "HEY, listen to this!!!" as I forced the nearest unsuspecting family member to appreciate whatever witticism our furry detective friend had just come out with (special shout out to the "KWAH SOHN" chapter. Seriously guys, you gotta read it!). Li Chen truly is as much a comedian as she is an exceptionally talented illustrator and author.
What a wholesome, sweet read (ahem, er, sorry Beans! I mean a SUPER-cool-ULTRA-sophisticated-edge-of-your-seat-whodunnit...!) brimming with a wide cast of lovable characters. From Beans' tiny avian protégé to his bakery owner mum, these zany Cat Town residents are sure to bring a smile to your face.
5/5 stars! Bravo, Li!
As a person with the attention span of a goldfish and the startling ability to end up scrolling social media within 0.075342 seconds of cracking open a book, I found the short story format incredibly effective. It is perfect for children who are just starting to read independently as it is very easy to pick up and put down again. Well actually, it's quite hard to do the putting down part but you get the gist.
It frequently had me squawking with laughter and exclaiming "HEY, listen to this!!!" as I forced the nearest unsuspecting family member to appreciate whatever witticism our furry detective friend had just come out with (special shout out to the "KWAH SOHN" chapter. Seriously guys, you gotta read it!). Li Chen truly is as much a comedian as she is an exceptionally talented illustrator and author.
What a wholesome, sweet read (ahem, er, sorry Beans! I mean a SUPER-cool-ULTRA-sophisticated-edge-of-your-seat-whodunnit...!) brimming with a wide cast of lovable characters. From Beans' tiny avian protégé to his bakery owner mum, these zany Cat Town residents are sure to bring a smile to your face.
5/5 stars! Bravo, Li!
October 12, 2025
I hope there are 100 more of these. I’ll read ‘em all.
June 26, 2025
If Beans has 1 fan left, that fan is me. If Beans has no fans, I am dead. If Beans has any critiques, expect me. I will ride or die for this cat. I would fight great battles for this cat.
September 24, 2025
BEANS, YOU LEGEND!
this is a series of vignettes instead of one long story like Missing Hat was, and it's still so charming and literally laugh-out-loud funny. Li Chen packs so much charm and emotion into her art and I will read every single one of these until I die!
this is a series of vignettes instead of one long story like Missing Hat was, and it's still so charming and literally laugh-out-loud funny. Li Chen packs so much charm and emotion into her art and I will read every single one of these until I die!
September 1, 2025
This one felt like Calvin and Hobbes but cuter 🥰 so many subtle jokes I love
January 4, 2026
I adore Betective Deans
March 21, 2026
I enjoyed the first Detective Beans but this one absolutely delighted me. I laughed out loud at several spots. This collection is more vignettes rather than one long story, and there's more humor for adults in the person of Beans' loving and incredibly patient mom.
November 12, 2025
3.75
I loved the collection of short stories, my only qualm is I wish it had been like the first graphic novel in the series that focused on one adventure. But other than that my fav duo is back, Detective Beans and Biscuit <3
I loved the collection of short stories, my only qualm is I wish it had been like the first graphic novel in the series that focused on one adventure. But other than that my fav duo is back, Detective Beans and Biscuit <3
June 1, 2025
a collection of short comics about this goofy ahh kitty's adventures. 10/10 this is so cuteeeee highly recommend x
June 5, 2025
Real tears of laughter
July 10, 2025
I love Bean. I follow Bean (Li Chen) on Instagram. It's super cute and it's funny. But what I loved in this book were the secondary characters, the million different birds that Beans encounters and most of them talk but there is one duck that just quacks, and frogs and snails and turtles and bears. I don't know why but they were awesome!
to-read-so-bad-it-hurts
April 21, 2025I want it and I want now
January 17, 2026
Adorable collection of short comics. Lots of funny/silly stories and just so cute!
June 7, 2025
10/10 very cute and had some really witty moments in it
February 6, 2026
The first DETECTIVE BEANS set the bar so high, perhaps it wasn't a surprise that this collection of short stories didn't quite reach the level of cleverness set by the first full-length adventure.
It's still very cute and fun, and Beans still wins over many junior graphic novel characters, managing to be high-energy and funny without resorting to brattiness. This is one that works on multiple levels, and will charm older kids and adults as much as younger kids.
It's still very cute and fun, and Beans still wins over many junior graphic novel characters, managing to be high-energy and funny without resorting to brattiness. This is one that works on multiple levels, and will charm older kids and adults as much as younger kids.
May 27, 2025
Detective Beans: Adventures in Cat Town by Li Chen is a new adventure in the Detective Beans series. Though, it can be read as a standalone; so you don’t need to have read the first. This one has a lot of short stories about the fun things Detective Beans gets up to. Such as trying to help all sorts of different people and figuring out the little mysteries in people’s lives, or just hanging out with friends and exploring more around the area.
This was on my want to read list for so long; since as soon as I saw it was coming out. I had it preordered, and I was counting down the days until it would be here. I received my copy today, which I am so happy for. I initially love, love, LOVED the first book (Detective Beans: The Case of the Missing Hat). I had bought a copy of that. And I remember thinking to myself, after reading that one, that I would LOVE to read more of Detective Beans and his adventures. So, I was so happy to find out that more would be added to the series.
The thing I like about him a lot is that he’s such a fun character. Full of innocence and very eager to try and help all sorts of other characters. In this book, it’s full of little stories about him going about town and interacting with a bunch of people. I love that he has a huge curiosity in trying to find out more about fellow characters. Such as one of my favourite stories in the book is “Beans and the Postman”. I love when he asks questions of others and engages with them, finding out more about them. I also absolutely adored the “Beans' Day at the Beach” story. My favourite bit is when he’s talking to the little crab about the bird book, and the crab is drawing its friends and saying that Beans should go and see them. I immediately showed that bit my sister. I thought it was such a cute moment and it put a HUGE smile on my face. I’d love to read more about those crabs; I think they could show us some fun times. Also, “Beans in Detention” had some super cute moments, too. Oh, and I loved “Beans Gets an Accountant”. And the horoscope at the end of the book says that I need to go to bed earlier, so that’s definitely accurate.
Being a comic book, it’s absolutely FULL of illustrations. They’re so much fun. I love getting to see Beans going about town, meeting the other characters. I love how happy so many of the characters are. The scenery is so pretty, too. Oh, and there are a lot of great border illustrations, with little character moments. I ended up going back and forth through the pages, checking out the fun little border notations and little fun things happening there.
Overall, I love this book. I preordered it, knowing that I would love it, and I am super happy with my purchase. Detective Beans is such a fun character. These stories are great and full of a lot of fun, exciting moments. I definitely recommend this book. If the author ever releases more Detective Beans books, I will absolutely read those, too.
This was on my want to read list for so long; since as soon as I saw it was coming out. I had it preordered, and I was counting down the days until it would be here. I received my copy today, which I am so happy for. I initially love, love, LOVED the first book (Detective Beans: The Case of the Missing Hat). I had bought a copy of that. And I remember thinking to myself, after reading that one, that I would LOVE to read more of Detective Beans and his adventures. So, I was so happy to find out that more would be added to the series.
The thing I like about him a lot is that he’s such a fun character. Full of innocence and very eager to try and help all sorts of other characters. In this book, it’s full of little stories about him going about town and interacting with a bunch of people. I love that he has a huge curiosity in trying to find out more about fellow characters. Such as one of my favourite stories in the book is “Beans and the Postman”. I love when he asks questions of others and engages with them, finding out more about them. I also absolutely adored the “Beans' Day at the Beach” story. My favourite bit is when he’s talking to the little crab about the bird book, and the crab is drawing its friends and saying that Beans should go and see them. I immediately showed that bit my sister. I thought it was such a cute moment and it put a HUGE smile on my face. I’d love to read more about those crabs; I think they could show us some fun times. Also, “Beans in Detention” had some super cute moments, too. Oh, and I loved “Beans Gets an Accountant”. And the horoscope at the end of the book says that I need to go to bed earlier, so that’s definitely accurate.
Being a comic book, it’s absolutely FULL of illustrations. They’re so much fun. I love getting to see Beans going about town, meeting the other characters. I love how happy so many of the characters are. The scenery is so pretty, too. Oh, and there are a lot of great border illustrations, with little character moments. I ended up going back and forth through the pages, checking out the fun little border notations and little fun things happening there.
Overall, I love this book. I preordered it, knowing that I would love it, and I am super happy with my purchase. Detective Beans is such a fun character. These stories are great and full of a lot of fun, exciting moments. I definitely recommend this book. If the author ever releases more Detective Beans books, I will absolutely read those, too.
January 21, 2026
I saw this in my library's digital newsletter and was so delighted by the concept of a "Detective Beans" that I didn't need to know anything else about it and patiently waited through two dozen holds on Libby so I could read it.
This graphic novel is fun, silly, sincere, at times ridiculous, and overall a great time. The art style is super cute and I loved that sometimes Beans himself doodles in the margins of pages or even draws the pages himself.
It was mildly awkward to read on my phone due to the ebook being formated as two page spreads, but you can just zoom in and move around through the pages manually.
I didn't love all the stories but the whole collection has a charm to it that leaves you smiling.
I'd recommend this to: Anyone looking for a low stakes fun silly read! I think it's a good one for young intermediate readers (or adults that don't read much) who are looking for something funny and easy to help them get into reading.
I wouldn't recommend this to: People devoid of whimsy!
Overall Rating: A very solid 4/5 Stars.
(P.S to Han! If you're reading this, this book is very certified silly goose time and I think you and Fe would enjoy it.)
This graphic novel is fun, silly, sincere, at times ridiculous, and overall a great time. The art style is super cute and I loved that sometimes Beans himself doodles in the margins of pages or even draws the pages himself.
It was mildly awkward to read on my phone due to the ebook being formated as two page spreads, but you can just zoom in and move around through the pages manually.
I didn't love all the stories but the whole collection has a charm to it that leaves you smiling.
I'd recommend this to: Anyone looking for a low stakes fun silly read! I think it's a good one for young intermediate readers (or adults that don't read much) who are looking for something funny and easy to help them get into reading.
I wouldn't recommend this to: People devoid of whimsy!
Overall Rating: A very solid 4/5 Stars.
(P.S to Han! If you're reading this, this book is very certified silly goose time and I think you and Fe would enjoy it.)
November 10, 2025
Hilarious the stories had me laughing out loud, which to me was so surprising since it is for children. I didn’t think this series would be appealing to me at all but it hit all the right spots. A small kitten in one adventure after the other, getting into mischief around town. While also getting to know his community lol. I can’t wait to read the next installment, adorable read for all ages.
December 17, 2025
This was fun, but I was a bit disappointed that it was all short snippets and one-pagers. I was hoping for another full story like the first volume which I LOVED. But still, give me more Detective Beans! 💕
Read
June 6, 2025im obsessed with detective beans
August 5, 2025
Review being submitted to School Library Journal for an upcoming SMS article.
September 11, 2025
Pawsitively adorable! A sheer delight from start to finish. The world is better for having Detective Beans in it! I hope to read more adventures and mysteries in the future.
October 4, 2025
Crabs.
October 15, 2025
Amazing book! I hope that there is a third one!
October 15, 2025
Honestly, one of the cutest things I have ever read. Loved so much
December 23, 2025
Cute & funny
January 28, 2026
very cute
September 20, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
Still super cute but not as funny or charming as the first.
Still super cute but not as funny or charming as the first.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews