The Case of the Missing Men — Kris Bertin

"Kris Bertin's stories are a revelation, a triumph -- each stamped with the mark of a new and rising genius." -- David Adams Richards

The Case of the Missing Men is the first part of an ongoing mystery thriller set in a strange and remote East Coast village called Hobtown. The story follows a gang of young teens who have made it their business to investigate each and every one of their town's bizarre occurrences as The Teen Detective Club (a registered afterschool program). Their small world of missing pets and shed-fires is turned upside down when real-life kid adventurer and globetrotter Sam Finch comes to town and enlists them in their first real case -- the search for his missing father. In doing so, he and the teens stumble upon a terrifying world of rural secret societies, weird-but-true folk mythology, subterranean lairs, and an occultist who can turn men into dogs. The Case of The Missing Men is at turns funny, intriguing, eerie, and endearing, and is beautifully illustrated in a style reminiscent of classic children's pulp series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.

Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes are childhood friends who trained in separate disciplines in order to reunite as adults and make comic books. Alexander Forbes is an artist and graduate of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and Kris Bertin is the author of the short story collection Bad Things Happen (Biblioasis, 2016). They are both from Lincoln, New Brunswick, and both live in Halifax, Nova Scotia.