The Vanishing Girl (Daphne and Velma, #1) (2024)

Jinkies, this was such a fun book! If you’re a fan of Scooby Doo, or quick cozy mysteries, I can’t recommend it enough. Getting to know more about the girls from Mystery Inc was such a lovely experience, the book adds more depth to their backstories, particularly family lives, and helps us understand why and how people can be so different and yet somehow so perfect for each other!
⠀
As kids Daphne and Velma were the best of friends, in high school they are decidedly not. But when Daphne’s new best friend Marcy goes missing after claiming to have seen a ghost at the local theme park where Velma works, the haunted village, these two long lost friends are forced to find a way to come together and overcome their differences in order to solve the case. A good sleuth will be able to pick up on the clues scattered throughout the book and see where it’s mystery is heading, just like in any Scooby Doo episode, but predictability aside it was just such a nostalgic and enjoyable read. My one and only complaint is that I would have loved to see more involvement from the other members of the group. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for girl power - but it just didn’t feel like a complete Mystery Inc investigation without Scooby and the boys and all the shenanigans they bring to the table. Still, this was a delightful and satisfying mystery with two strong female leads unique in their own ways. I’m really excited for the next book and I honestly can’t wait to see Daphne and Velma uncover the next mystery!

Series: Daphne and Velma #1
Rating: 5 stars - I loved it!

Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley used to be best friends when they were kids. Now as high schoolers, they have gone their separate ways. But when Daphne’s best friend, who is also Velma’s cousin, disappears, these two team up to solve the mystery.

Well this book was a surprise. I expected to like this book because I loved Velma as a kid but this was ten times better than I expected it to be. I was instantly hooked on Daphne and Velma’s high school life and their fractured relationship. Velma is the smart kid who doesn't have any friends really, which I related to a lot. Daphne is the popular girl in school who is constantly being reminded of her mother’s success. I enjoyed their internal monologue and their struggle to cope with family and friend issues. Also, watching them repair their friendship was very well written and I love that it wasn’t an easy repair. They worked at it and made more mistakes along the way.

One of the things that I found surprisingly great about this book was the side characters. I loved that Shaggy, Scooby, and Fred all are seen throughout this book. Also, my childish self was extremely excited when the Hex Girls appeared because they were one of my favorite characters from the cartoon. The mystery aspect of this book was great in my opinion. I didn’t realize who the bad guys were until right before they were revealed so I call that a very successful mystery plot line.

Overall, this was a wonderful mystery with two of my favorite childhood characters. I mean what’s not to love about a series focusing on just Daphne and Velma! I am really looking forward to reading book two now, especially since it will be dealing more with Shaggy.

Content Warnings: brief references to parent with depression

You can also find my reviews at Red-Haired Ash Reads.

I found this on a kindle discounts list and decided, "Sure, why not?" Scooby Doo was a childhood favorite show, and I was delighted with this book. It had all the old favorite bits -- the characters were described just as remembered, with Velma's glasses and turtlenecks, Shaggy and Scooby's love of food, and Daphne's fashion taste, it featured a haunted theme park, and even "Jinkies" and "meddling kids" were mentioned! And it added some new, and appreciated, elements: the girls pretty much solved the mystery themselves, and they had realistic interactions with each other and with their families and friends.

I will consider checking out the next installment when it comes out.

It never fails to fascinate me how much of a cultural impact Scooby-Doo has had over its 51-year-and-counting history. The fans don't just love the series, they're passionate about it. If you need proof (and you have no human decency) just pop into any message thread and ask "Which series was your least favorite?"; within minutes people will be lobbing their ascots and lavender pumps at each other.

So, YA novel Daphne and Velma: The Vanishing Girl by Josephine Ruby comes with the pleasure of, and responsibility for, a built in audience with predisposed emotions for the lead characters. In case you don't know, Ruby is a pseudonym for an as yet unidentified author (or authors). But even with no previous titles associated with Ruby, I'm happy to say the writing carries both the air of professional experience, and a love of the source material.

Scooby's more visual tropes don't translate well into written format, and Ruby is wise to make sure the story works as a YA novel first before selecting which familiar elements to throw into the mix. For example, the dog makes several appearances but only communicates through barking; thus grounding itself in more of a reality than we've seen before.

Minus a prologue and some scattered interlogues, the narrative alternates between Velma and Daphne's perspectives. The voices are distinctive; and unlike last year's (dare I say unwatchable?) live-action DVD movie which focused on these characters, the cornerstone of the plot is their conflict.

We've seen Velma's insecurities before, but here they're on display in full glory because sixteen year old Velma doesn't have a successful track record to lean into. She's confident in her mental prowess but she doubts her ability to follow through. From the opening paragraphs, you hear her voice. This is the seed that's going to grow into the woman who will stare down her hero Ben Ravencroft. At her core, Velma has an intellectual thirst for truth, and this is the period in her life where it hurts her with the most regularity; when she's alone.

On the other hand, this version of Daphne is a bit of a jarring flavor. She's much further from her familiar(ish) personality that the franchise can't ever quite nail down. This Daphne is a mean girl. Not unsympathetically so. A combination of circ*mstance and the fact that adolescence is a hormonal circus, this Daphne can't stop herself from erupting. It's a painful, sometimes literally tear-jerking character arc she goes on. And it's poetically heart-breaking every time she refers to herself as a monster hiding behind a mask.

If there's a weakness to the novel, it's that the mystery takes a back seat. I don't think it's a bad thing; I was happy spending the bulk of the pages getting to re-know these old friends of mine. If you're coming into it purely for the mystery elements you might find yourself having to flip through the first hundred pages before the vanishing girl actually vanishes. But that's not the heart of the book. Like the title reads, it's about Daphne and Velma before it's about the case of the week. As this series continues, I hope those priorities continue.

Final thoughts: Ruby is an author with a legitimate spark. She's willing to take some risks with the characters, and her ability to manage the fallout is admirable. The Scooby franchise doesn't have a rigid canonical timeline, so don't try to force this into one 'verse or the other. Ruby seems to take most inspiration from the Mystery Incorporated series, while possibly answering why Daphne thought she might be going to hell in the Supernatural crossover. It's a YA book, so there's some mild profanity that I'm kind of surprised the WB allowed, but nothing to make it feel not-Scooby. And there's a nice surprise appearance in the third act that I won't spoil here.

In the end, I recommend both reading the book and supporting the series. The second installment is due in July, and all signs point to this being a deeply satisfying journey.

2023 Reread: Still really good, still entertaining. It contains a lot of important life lessons and human insights as well. A colourful, clever, funny, quick and enjoyable holiday read.

Everything in my original review below applies and supplies; nothing has changed.

Final Score: 4/5

Original Review:

I don't know why I had only recently become suddenly, inexplicably quite obsessed with this femme pairing. Maybe it was from seeing toys belonging to my adorable little nephew and niece, and it brought on nostalgia feels. I mean, 'Scooby-Doo' is an absolutely massive franchise, and must be a part of everybody's childhood to some degree, but it was never a big thing for me (not like 'The Simpsons', which was my obsession). I just remember it as being one in the long line of Hanna-Barbera cartoons that were always on on Saturday mornings when I was very young, and not much more. A toon megacorporation from when I was growing up, that I'm surprised to see is still very popular after several decades.

But there's something about the two leading lady detectives - Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley, two complete opposites in personality who have undergone various incarnations since the sixties. To me, a feminist pop culture and girl power fanatic, they are enticing; delightful; enchanting.

Before reading 'The Vanishing Girl' (Daphne and Velma, #1)', for context I bought and watched several 'Scooby-Doo' animated films (my favourites are 'Zombie Island' and 'The Witch's Ghost'. Yeah, the mysteries that are the very antithesis of 'Scooby-Doo''s original premise of the supernatural being fake and that the real monsters you'll encounter in life are merely people. I don't care, they're very good films, and good animated films are my jam). I watched the 2018 live action 'Daphne & Velma' film, and I actually enjoyed it; shocking news concerning any live action adaptation of a cartoon, I know. I've also now finished reading this book's sequel, 'The Dark Deception', and in my opinion, it isn't anywhere near as good as the first. The mystery element is rubbish, obvious and incomplete, plot threads and characters are dropped and go nowhere, it's rather boring, and I swear there is queerbaiting - in a 2020 publication! YA authors, make the main leads queer - don't limit yourselves to the very, very minor characters. Why are Daphne and Velma so hung up on boys? Why ram home how straight they apparently are? Ugh, why!?

Anyway, on to the charm and modern female power of 'The Vanishing Girl':

Daphne and Velma, so different in high school social hierarchies and cliques, nonetheless compliment each other emphatically in anything they appear in. At least in this YA novel, they represent two sides of the same coin in terms of female strengths: Daphne, the slender redhead in purple and green, is the queen bee, the fashionista, the "pretty" and popular girl, who is smarter and more observant, cunning and savvy than she lets on; and Velma, the frumpy, freckled brunette in orange, is the straight-up "smart" girl, with the glasses and social awkwardness, and just wearing whatever she wants, not caring what people think of her, but still endowed with insecurities. Both of them are. They are teenagers, after all. And both are intelligent in their own way; Daphne is street-and-people-and-trends-smart, and Velma is a science geek and bookworm, for instance.

Daphne - Extrovert. Velma - Introvert.

To be frank, they complete each other. They would work as a couple, in every sense of the word.

I have to say this for Velma, too: Her entire concept says that a girl who is super smart is a good thing. Smart girls are cool. It doesn't matter what she looks like - she is to be respected, as a detective and a character in her own right. How progressive for the sixties.

In the first in a planned trilogy of YA books about the dynamic, dynamite diva duo, it is established that this is a prequel of sorts to how the Mystery Inc became official. Daphne - rich, cool and confident - and Velma - nerdy and mystery-loving child of impoverished immigrants - live in Crystal Cove, famous for its history of unsolved mysteries, hauntings and legends. The girls were best friends as children, but a heart-breaking fallout, where all sorts of complicated life busts happened for both of them, had left them bitter and mean enemies up to high school. When Daphne's fellow popular mean girl friend Marcy starts acting strange and aloof, and then disappears the day she'd meant to confess all, Daphne and Velma reunite, after many years, to try and find her. And other missing girls. More and more people are claiming to have seen a ghost haunting Crystal Cove's tourist attraction theme park, the Haunted Village.

Daphne and Velma are each going through family issues (Velma had lost her home a long time ago and is living in poverty, and her father is suffering from depression; Daphne is still processing her parents' divorce, and is refusing to emotionally let in her estranged video game designer mother, and her stepfather and younger half-sisters, etc.). But together, they are going to crack the case! Solve one mystery out of a multifold in Crystal Cove.

Shaggy, who is funny and awesome here, tags along to help out occasionally, too, along with Scooby (who, in a contemporary and "realistic" incarnation, is a relatively normal and friendly Great Dane who doesn't talk). Fred barely appears. An extra special highlight is the presence of the Hex Girls, who it turns out are valuable to the plot and not merely fanservice cameos (Thorn even has a crush on Velma!).

Major props for Velma being half-Mexican from her mother's side; it carries such significant, meaningful and relevant diversity rep in this American novel.

I won't reveal much detail about 'The Vanishing Girl', a mystery story, in my review. I don't wish to spoil anything! However, a single minutiae I will mention is the inclusion of a universal fact that men tend to avoid tampon boxes like the plague, and so this makes them perfect places for women and girls to hide anything they need to. Just one life lesson out of loads to take away from a book prominently starring Daphne and Velma from 'Scooby-Doo'!

And Velma's cat is named Jinkies. This is noteworthy to me because I love cats. No other reason.

'The Vanishing Girl (Daphne and Velma, #1)' - recommended, and not solely for nostalgic reasons. It's brilliant to see two girls, unalike yet alike in their loneliness and insecurities, in a complicated relationship, who grow and form a bond, and care deeply for one another. They work in a relationship that will help to make their community and overall society better and safer for everyone. They're a pair who exude innovation and warmth and charm. They deserve credit for their mystery solving skills.

Seriously though, I totally ship Daphne and Velma. Someone make it canon, in something, anything.

Final Score: 4/5

This book is like the odd, perfect mix of Mystery Incorporated, the Daphne and Velma 2018 live-action film, and random bits from Scoob! Honestly, my heart almost exploded with fangirl love at all the random insertions from various shows and films in the Scooby Doo franchise that were scattered throughout; from Shaggy's ventriloquism in the cave's (a talent he has that's mentioned in Scooby Doo, Where Are You?) to Fred's uncle working for the local conspiracy/gossip magazine (as he did in A Pup Named Scooby Doo) to having The Hex Girls make an appearance. And on top of all the little multigenerational fandom nods, we also got a truly beautiful and heartbreaking story about the friendship of Daphne and Velma; while neither character is blameless in what led to the breakdown of their friendship in the years before the novel starts, they are both very believable and you just want to hug both of them. And even though Shaggy isn't a focal point in this story, he was in it enough that my Shaggy-obsessed (he's always been my fave of the Mystery Inc gang) heart was more than content; it's quality over quantity, and he was always used to his best effect. And also, he appears in this story the way he was in the earliest eps of SDWAY -- not really much of a coward, but a gymnast with a talent for breaking into places and getting into trouble.

The only thing I wish was different was that Fred was mentioned and seen in the distance, but never a part of the story. I kept hoping he would pop up in more than just narrative anecdotes about elementary school days when the future Mystery Inc gang were close friends, but... he stayed a hazy figure off in the distance. I hope that changes in the coming books.