TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES: A Hermux Tantamoq Adventure
by Michael Hoeye
Puffin/Penguin Young Readers Group
Hardcover: 9780399244902
Paperback: 9780142412435
Ages 9-11
288 pages

Pinchester is a fairly average town --- except all of its residents are rodents, insects and other animals. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have their share of trouble. Just ask Hermux Tantamoq. From corporate scandals to town gossip and breathtaking adventures, life in Pinchester and beyond is never boring.

Professional watchmaker and part-time mouse-detective Hermux Tantamoq has his work cut out for him. First, there’s his growing business; then the seemingly never-ending plans (and budget) for his impending wedding to adventuress and pilot Linka Perflinger; and now comes the renovation of an historic clock tower for the wealthy Androse deRosenquil of Thorny End.

Meanwhile, cosmetics tycoon Tucka Mertslin is facing a dilemma of her own. How can her company be number one in the market again, after her former partner Reezor Bleesom has launched his own successful fragrance line that consumers can’t get enough of? The answer: by hiring his former employee, Dr. Killium Wollar, to help her. Killium considers himself to be a genius and doesn’t like hard work, instead preferring to have fun in the form of practical jokes, some of which are quite mean (his “perfume” that Reezor picked as his unique new product cost him his job). However, his creativity is just what Tucka is looking for when she is (not so) pleasantly surprised by his invention dubbed the Luscious Lip-Fix; she’s determined to increase her profits as well as destroy Reezor’s business by ruining his party. Killium might have the solution if he can just figure out what it is, amidst the frantic matter that threatens his chances of enjoying a wealthy lifestyle.

When Hermux is stung on the nose, he painfully realizes that the offending bee is far from normal. There are more surprises when, during his appointment with Androse deRosenquil, Hermux is impressed by the older squirrel’s family rose business but is concerned by Androse’s violent outbursts. He meets Androses’s daughter Primm and learns of the family’s troubled past and Primm’s hope of bringing them together again. Hermux takes on the role of detective and discovers that there is indeed more than meets the eye, such as when he meets taxidermist Thirxen Ghoulter, who also happens to be the local coroner with an unusual missing persons case --- a dead squirrel. And just what is going on at the former Institute for Positive Thinking? With help from Linka and talented pet ladybug Terfle, Hermux just might have time to enjoy another cherry-rosehip-peanut cruller.

At first glance, Michael Hoeye’s series (which consists of TIME STOPS FOR NO MOUSE, THE SAND OF TIME and NO TIME LIKE SHOW TIME) might seem to be just for younger readers, but because of the engaging writing, unusual characters and sly humor, older audiences will enjoy the Hermux Tantamoq adventures as well. With surprising revelations, mystery and breathtaking action, fans and newcomers alike will enjoy reading TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES.

    --- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle

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