Zoinks! Cthulhu is Back!: A Re-review of Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

Are you a fan of Lovecraft? Was Scooby-Doo your favorite cartoon as a kid? Do you still like Scooby-Doo? Have you ever wished the two were combined? More so than in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then do I have the book for you!

If you answered yes to those questions then you best be running to the book store.

Please give a warm welcome back to Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero!

I reviewed Meddling Kids a few years back. I came up with the best title ever, I have never been able to top it, but I do not particularly like my review. Why did I go on about Kerri and Andy being bad LGBTQIA+ representation for ages? The world may never know. But I know I need to review this book again. So let’s crack in.

Oh, I also created a new Books&Lewks to go with today’s review. The full video of me creating this look is up on Reading Has Ruined My Life’s Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife) right now.

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you will know I simply love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. I also have a quick content and trigger warning to issue. Please be aware that Meddling Kids has mentions of drug abuse and suicide that are prevalent to the story. There are also some homophobic remarks made throughout the book by side characters. Neither of these topics will be brought up in this review though. Now, onto the synopsis.

Meet Andy, Kerri, Peter, Nate, and Tim: the Blyton Summer Detective Club. In 1977, the four teens and their dog solved the mystery of the Sleepy Lake Monster that was causing absolute havoc in Blyton Hills. Turns out the monster was just a man in a mask, but things never sat right with the teen detectives once the case was seemingly closed.

Little did they know this was just the start of the mystery. 

Flash forward to 1990, the Blyton Summer Detective Club members have scattered to the wind. The Sleepy Lake Monster was the last case the squad solved together before turning their backs on one another. But when the man they put away 13 years ago makes parole, Andy ambushes him and manages to confirm that the wrong person was sentenced all those years ago.

It’s up to her to get the gang back together, and figure out what actually happened way back when. One thing is for certain, the actual culprit is not a man in a mask. The mystery that follows is filled with alchemy, magic, ancient gods, and is a creature feature for the ages. Oh, and there’s a ten-out-of-ten good boy. I mentioned him already, but I have to mention Tim again.

Before I begin the review proper, we must talk about the book’s good boy. Tim is the best character in this book, hands down. Truly, he’s a ten-out-of-ten good boy. And he doesn’t die! For anyone out there searching for Tim’s fate, release any and all breaths you are holding as Tim is perfectly fine at the end of the novel. He has some scrapes and bruises, but he survives the events of the book. If Tim had died, I would have been giving the book a one-star review on Goodreads. Now onto the review, I promise.

My thoughts regarding Meddling Kids have changed greatly since I first reviewed it back in 2021. I still enjoy this read, do not get me wrong, but after multiple rereads, Meddling Kids isn’t as strong. Also, my tastes have changed in the past five years thus changing my opinions.

Firstly, Meddling Kids relies strongly on Edgar Cantero’s humor. This novel is full of jokes and references to the material it takes inspiration from. Thomas Wickley, the last felon the Blyton Summer Detective Club put away, utters the famous line, “I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids” in the first chapter. There’s a river by the name of Zoinx, and of course the main characters are all inspired by everyone’s favorite teenaged mystery solvers and their dog. While I appreciate the allusions to Scooby-Doo, they need to end at some point; which is not something that happens in Meddling Kids. The references and allusions keep on coming till the last page. So yes, at a certain point these do get annoying.

As far as the book’s humor goes, the writing is most definitely funny in places. I remember laughing a lot the first time I read Meddling Kids. That said, after a few rereads over the years, the content gets stale. I have vague memories about what is about to occur, about when a character will say a witty remark. The humor sadly falls flat as all humor does when it’s repeated often enough. Note this is not an issue with the book or writing itself, it’s simply something that occurs with rereading.

Another aspect of this novel that falls flat for me, one that has never been my favorite part of the book in the slightest, are the random shifts to screenwriting style. Wholly unnecessary and a choice that comes across as lazy. The screenwriting style tends to occur when the vast majority of characters are together in conversation. It feels like a lazy way to write dialogue more than a stylistic choice.

I do have to applaud Edgar Cantero for his characters, though. The main trio of Andy, Kerri, and Nate are all my favorite type of character: gray. Yes, these three are our heroes of the story. Yes, they ultimately save the day. But they’re all human. They’re all broken and have their many faults. Andy has anger issues, readers see her take her anger out on many a minor character throughout the novel. She also isn’t quick to trust those who have done her wrong in the past as she holds tight to her grudges. Nate runs away in terror during the climax of the novel; a thing most literary heroes would never dare consider. As for Kerri, the trauma from the last Blyton Summer Detective Club mystery, and the trauma of the following years, have caused her to nearly give up on all her hopes and dreams. There are no Mary Sues in sight when it comes to Meddling Kids. The main characters, while do come across as their cartoon counterparts more often than not, feel like actual human beings for the majority of the novel.

Meddling Kids is a creature feature for the ages. Edgar Cantero’s humor is certainly not for everyone, nor does it hold up after multiple rereads over the years, but the novel is a fun-filled Lovecraftian adventure sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats during an initial read.

Also, this tiny Cthulhu is still adorable.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you for joining me today, Book Nerds. I hope you had a lovely time here today. Join me again next week as I have another new review for Spooky Season. If you can’t wait that long, then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books, then I highly suggest checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. The show stars me and two of my dearest friends. We talk about anything and everything, including Scooby-Doo. Seriously, we have a whole Scooby-Doo in Review series going on. We recently made it out of the What’s New, Scooby-Doo era films. You can currently find the show on Spotify and YouTube.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See y'all then, bye!