Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor

by Pascal Girard, Helge Dascher (Translator)

A maternity leave murder mystery, complete with postpartum physiotherapy and suspicious grocery store footage

Rebecca’s got an eight-month-old baby and a mystery to investigate! Late one summer night as she’s breastfeeding Lucie, she spots two men carrying something heavy into a white minivan. It’s probably nothing serious, but when Rebecca hears that a home health care provider named Eduardo Morales disappeared from the neighbourhood that very night, she puts her detective hat on and gets to work.

Over the course of the subsequent weeks, Rebecca juggles motherhood and detective work—alternating between unproductive visits with the Simard family, for whom the missing Eduardo worked, and tearful visits to potential daycares for Lucie. She faces down inconclusive interviews with evasive subjects and inconveniently timed diaper changes. Pascal Girard’s observational humor and perfect timing shine through each page, highlighting how Rebecca’s (over)confident, brash approach gets results, not just with the troublesome Simards but with everyone in her life.

Rebecca and Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor is a lighthearted maternity leave mystery that centers a new mother in all her postpartum glory.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mystery, Comics, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels Comics, Canada, Contemporary

100 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2021

About the author

Pascal Girard est né à Jonquière en 1981. Dès sa première journée sur les bancs d’école, il remplit de dessins les marges de ses cahiers et agendas. Comme il n’a jamais pu se débarasser de cette bonne habitude, il a naturellement décidé d’en faire son métier. En 2004, il termine un baccalauréat interdisciplinaire en arts à l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi.

Depuis, il a déménagé à Québec où il mène une double carrière d’illustrateur et d’auteur de bandes dessinées. Ses deux premiers livres Dans un cruchon et Nicolas, se sont partagé le prix Réal-Fillion au Festival de la bande dessinée francophone de Québec en 2006. Il a fait paraître Paresse et Jimmy et le Bigfoot à la Pastèque.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pascal Girard reimagines his wife Rebecca as an amateur sleuth, investigating the disappearance of a social worker in their neighbourhood, while looking after their newborn daughter Lucie on maternity leave.

Rebecca & Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor isn’t bad but it’s not one of Girard’s better books. Rebecca is a likeable protagonist, confident and brash in an amusing way, taking on pervs in the park while tackling the mystery head-on. It’s also a unique combination, mixing the experience of what it’s like being a newborn’s mother with a mystery story.

The mystery itself is a bit weak - it’s fairly generic in concept and resolution, and it’s more or less solved by the halfway mark, without Rebecca’s involvement really, so there aren’t many surprises to be had for the rest of the book. Also, given the tone and style of the story, you know there’s never any danger for Rebecca, so it’s a predictable ending.

But Girard is a fine cartoonist and the comic, while not a riveting read, is also not a boring one. I really liked the colourful and wonderfully evocative art that made the book appealing to look at and complemented the storytelling so that you always knew what was happening.

If you’re interested in this creator’s work, I’d suggest checking out Petty Theft and Reunion instead. But if you’re a fan of Girard’s like me, even though it’s fairly middling and unmemorable, Rebecca & Lucie in the Case of the Missing Neighbor is nevertheless a charming, sweet read that’s still worth picking up.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpected, surprising, and light, the story of a nursing mother who decides to investigate the disappearance of a care-giver in their building. She is going through baby stroller classes, she's completely consumed and overwhelmed in a way by the 24/7 needs of this baby, but she decides to be an unpaid private detective, setting out tasks for herself, interviewing people, navigating around the eye-rolling police.

The needs of the baby (I'm hungry! I need food!) interfere with her detective work, of course, so that's funny, her asking serious questions while nursing or diapering, but this adds humor and sweetness to the story. And the sweet and loose artwork, pastels by Pascal, are so inviting and warm. Make it into a series, Pascal! This is good stuff!

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new mom nearing the end of her maternity leave becomes wrapped up in a missing person case in her neighborhood and transforms into Columbo as she takes it upon herself to question suspects with her child on her back or latched to her breast. It's a little odd and corny, but it's also totally sweet that the comic creator has based the title characters in this fictional cozy mystery on his own wife and child.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pascal Girard's books always take me somewhere that I'm not quite expecting, and that is what I love about them.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rebecca's a new mom on maternity leave; Lucie is her cute daughter. Together, they solve a local murder. Rebecca and Lucie is really as simple as that. The art is cute and the mystery is not complex. It's a pleasant, somewhat forgettable read.

[François Vigneault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic breezy read that combines a page-turner of a missing persons case with a loving, sensitive, and often hilarious look at the day-to-day life of a young mother. Colorful loose and lively artwork, spot-on observational humor, a blurring of reality and fiction (the book stars versions of the author's real-life partner and child), and a genuine sense of mystery and even occasional dread all make this a great summer read. Recommended.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Audrey Martel · Rating 5 out of 5]

C’était parfait !

[Karelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un 3 étoiles et demi ajusté à la hausse. Très sympathique, malgré que la solution était pas mal prévisible.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, light, unexpected mystery story. A mom on maternity leave takes it upon herself to investigate the disappearance of a neighbor - while breastfeeding, changing diapers, attending to a crying infant and going to mommy and me classes. Appealing artwork and funny moments carry this entertaining diversion.

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this would be me as a mom.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baby-wearing detective. I think that I was expecting something a bit lighter but this got pretty dark towards the end. Still well-written and illustrated.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paternal Leave. Cozy Mystery. Montreal.

Loved this quick cozy mystery in graphic novel form. Pascal Girard turned his wife and infant daughter into the heroines of this story. I wonder what the real Rebecca and Lucie make of their literary counterpart? Would love to see this made into a series. Recommend to fans of Lucy Knisley and cozy mysteries.

[Megan Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this quick, playful detective story. The movement and colors of Girard's panels are incredibly easy and fun to follow, and Rebecca's post-partum obsession with her missing neighbor contains a lot of surprising depth for such a quick read. I'll gladly read her next case.

[Sofia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the art, and the premise, but found it slow and I didn't feel connected to the characters.

[François Vigneault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic breezy read that combines a page-turner of a missing persons case with a loving, sensitive, and often hilarious look at the day-to-day life of a young mother. Colorful, loose, and lively artwork, spot-on observational humor, a blurring of reality and fiction (the book stars versions of the author's real-life partner and child), and a genuine sense of mystery and even occasional dread all make this a great summer read. Recommended.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an odd little book. I picked it up at the library on the basis of its cover alone. The concept piqued my interest further: a postpartum mama detective with baby in tow? How unexpected! The execution is as singular as the concept. I love Girard's expressive linework, and the way he lovingly renders the minutiae of early parenthood. The mystery itself is not as engrossing as the Girard family relationships, or the vigor and intensity of Rebecca's motivation. Perhaps this speaks to my own postpartum self, but I do see the magic of this story in its central characters rather than the mystery, which is instantly forgettable.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute, I quite liked the simple artwork and watercolours. I also liked the story - I almost want to say it was cute, but considering it was a missing person case that ended in murder, that seems a little too light haha. But I loved the slice of life in between Rebecca's playing detective: her doctor's appointments, her mom-baby workout groups, getting Lucie enrolled in daycare. I really enjoyed those parts of the story.

[Catrina Berka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, mystery graphic novel about a woman on maternity leave who imagines herself an amateur detective, attempting to solve a crime with her baby in tow. Each page has 6 full-color sketched panels. The soft, maternal tone of the illustrations belie the deceit and danger inherent in a missing person's case. It was a cute, fluff read.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't a huge fan of the wavy-outlined arms, as it made me think everyone was in a permanent state of jitters, but it was a cute read and an easy mystery.

Some of her investigative leaps made me curious about whether she was going to be charged for breaking in and assaulting an innocent old hunter with a wrench. Luckily her deduction skills are better than mine!

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the art. The detective story was so well told overtop the day-to-day life of a new mother. The details brought me right back to that stage of my life - changing a diaper in a restaurant with no change table, leaking through a shirt in public, getting frantic texts about the baby not taking a bottle, etc. Really great story!

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A short, fun, whimsical read. The art is very beautiful and engaging. However, one thing really bugged me, which was about the treatment of the person at the center of the murder mystery itself. The tone was really off on that. I’d much rather just read about Rebecca and Lulu’s adventures and various hijinks!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit odd it’s about a mother and her baby who decide to investigate a disappearance of a person that she knows. The woman is not a detective decides to make her self into one. I like the artwork but the plot was just soso for me.

[Barbora Votavová · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, funny & at the same time heartwrenchingly serious story. Intertwining parenthood and a murder mystery, it poignantly shows the thrills and troubles of both. I love the way Pascal Girard works with face expressions, adding humor even to the more serious parts.

[Susie Chocolate]

Enjoy graphic novels, a genre I got into in SF. Must be left over from my days of reading “Archie” as a kid but adult graphic novels are full of satire and fun details. This one is from a Montréal based artist.

[The Bibliopossum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really fun

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this book. Wonderful illusrrations. Very pleasing palette. Great characterisations. Relatable parenting content! Plus a full blooded crime mystery.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a cute story of a mom who was going a stir crazy while on maternity leave.

[CW Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thin story but cute illustrations.
Don't read many graphic novels...which is more important: story line or illustrations????

[Elias · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's cute, especially considering it's about the author's wife; but there's not much to it.