The Big Bad Wolf Murder
by P. G. Bell
Intermediate, Middle School    Feiwel    224 pp.
1/26    9781250864864    $17.99

In a world where talking wolves live alongside humans, twelve-year-old Ruby is a rising star player of the sport Tooth & Claw, in which teams of human girls attempt to escape from a wolf opponent whose role is to hunt them. During a critical Tooth & Claw match, the wolf player chasing Ruby drops dead, and Ruby is framed as the number one suspect. Unwilling to be jailed and charged for a murder she didn’t commit, Ruby goes on the run with Fillan, a young wolf accused of being her accomplice, and they search for clues to identify the true culprit and clear their names. Bell takes a premise that pushes the limits of suspension of disbelief and runs with it, sending Ruby and the reader on a roller-coaster ride featuring death-defying acrobatics, undercover investigations, and all the red herrings befitting a whodunnit mystery. The story doesn’t take itself too seriously, with tongue-in-cheek humor and plenty of winks and nods to the folktale that inspired it, such as characters named Charlotte Grimm and Wilhelm Jacobs. Although the Zootopia-esque treatment of wolves as a stigmatized population doesn’t always land, this is still an enjoyable romp that will have readers rooting for Ruby and Fillan to emerge victorious over their many enemies and obstacles.

From the January/February 2026 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.