THE CASE OF THE ZOMBIE NINJAS: DOTTY MORGAN SUPERNATURAL SLEUTH BOOK TWO
By Erik Christopher Martin
Reviewed by Pennell Paugh
May 19, 2024 (San Diego) –In San Diego author Erik Christopher Martin’s latest book, The Case of the Zombie Ninjas, the Sato Corporation moves to Elderton, Dotty Morgan’s home town. It also funds Waverly Perchance Memorial Garden, a project organized by 12-year-old Dotty.
Sato Corporation’s CEO, Mr. Sato, takes an interest in Dotty and helps her realize her dream of owning and operating a Supernatural Sleuthing Agency. However, there is a dark side to Mr. Sato’s generosity.
Below is an excerpt:
Dotty stared at her tablet, slack-jawed. The Phantom Eye 3000™ by Sigge Stromberg, Inc. was the apex of paranormal research drones. Equipped with infrared and thermal, night vision, long range, high resolution still and video camera imaging, EMF sensors, proximity sensors, and extendable robotic arms for sample collection, the drone was sleek and black.
She wiped a rivulet of drool from the corner of her mouth.
I want...no, I need this thing yesterday. If I’m going to be a serious supernatural sleuth, I have got to step up my game. What’s the damage on one of these? Yikes! It had a price tag of $8999.
“What the heck is that thing?” said a high, small voice from the edge of her desk.
Dotty jerked in surprise before catching herself. The voice was Gredel’s, a gnome less than a foot tall with a head like a potato in color and shape, if potatoes grew bristly black beards.
Gredel lived in a tiny apartment beneath the Morgans’ basement. He stole fabric from Mrs. Morgan three years ago, and Dotty was blamed. That miscarriage of justice set her on the path of supernatural sleuthing. He made amends last October by helping her with the Case of the French Fry Phantom, as she had dubbed it in her case files.
“If my detective agency is going to be legit, I need stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“Interactive website, advertising, business cards, fully stocked paranormal crime lab ... and this,” she said pointing to her tablet.
Gredel made a skeptical face. “I bet that won’t do half of what your Arcanometer can do,” he said.
“That’s true,” she conceded. “Partly. The Mark Two anyway. But it does tons of stuff the Arcanometer can’t do.”
Dotty invented the Arcanometer to detect the two main types of supernatural energy! ethereal and astral.
Ethereal energy was Earthly. Every ghost, poltergeist, and minor psychic phenomenon gave off ethereal energy. She ran across it daily. Astral energy was associated with other realms. Things that emitted astral energy were far beyond garden variety haunts in terms of power. They were strong, scary, and not something to tackle unprepared. Fortunately, they were rare.
Dotty invented the Arcanometer Mark One by herself. The Mark Two had been a collaboration between Dotty and Gredel. Not only could it detect the presence and relative strength of paranormal energy, but it also precisely gauged direction, distance, and magnitude. And over the winter break from school, she’d added memory so she could download her findings for later study. The Mark Two could do things the Phantom Eye 3000™ could not.
Dotty’s father acquires a Japanese cup and sword. Dotty detects power coming from each object. Mr. Sato offers a generous small business grant if her family will lend the cup and sword to the corporation.
Many others want the powerful objects, including zombie ninjas, a powerful demon called an oni, human/bird hybrids known as tengu, and Dotty’s new friend, Sakura, whose life might depend on it.
Hannah, Dotty’s sweetheart, becomes jealous of Sakura and takes time-out from their relationship. Meanwhile, Dotty finds herself in the middle of a war between paranormal factions. Will Dotty and Hannah reunite and can they win back the sword and cup while overcoming powerful supernatural enemies?
This is a delightful suspenseful story for middle-grade readers.
WINNER! The Case of the Zombie Ninjas recently won a Firebird Book Award for Cover Design and Kids LGBTQ+ Mystery and a second-place award for Kids Diversity.
Erik Christopher Martin lives and writes in San Diego, CA. The Case of the Zombie Ninjas is his fifth published novel and is the second book in the Dotty Morgan Supernatural Sleuth Series. In addition to writing books for young-adult and middle-grade readers, Martin’s short fiction for adult readers has appeared on the Tales to Terrify Podcast, Coffin Bell, The Potato Soup Journal, and various other anthologies and journals. Martin is a member of the Society of Children Book Writers & Illustrators and the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild. Visit ErikChristopherMartin.com for more information.