Richard Sala's world grows even weirder in The Grave Robber's Daughter.

Girl sleuth Jenny Drood finds herself stranded outside the small town of Obidiah's Glen, but she can't find anyone to fix her car, nor even a working telephone to call for help. Heck, she can't even find an adult in the town, which is wrapped around the remains of a forlorn carnival that was once its greatest attraction.

Ah, but there is a handful of maladjusted teenagers, who prove useless, and one young girl in hiding who provides part of the background Jenny needs. The rest of the answers come later, but not after attacks by evil clowns, a grotesque tentacled thing, a couple of loathsome teens and still more evil clowns.

Sala's world is not a deep one; his stories are resolved fairly quickly, as this slim volume demonstrates. But his characters are fascinating (Peculia remains my favorite, but this Drood chick has potential) and the circumstances in which they find themselves are out of this world. Or, rather, outside the bounds of normalcy which we in this world hold to be true.

I mean, we don't have killer clowns roaming the streets, right? Or do we?

The simple, black-and-white artwork is suitably eerie, ooky and fun. The story is mysterious, fast-paced and, again, fun. Only a few nightmarish images and Jenny's foul vocabulary prevent this from being an all-ages book, but young adults and old adults alike should enjoy a shiver or two from this tale.