Sammy Keyes

"We live in Santa Martina, remember? This town is full of wackos."

- Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen

Sammy Keyes, to quote The Other Wiki, is a series of mystery novels aimed at children and teenagers that, of course, follows the adventures of the titular protagonist. In most of the books, she deals with everyday junior high school life, solves mysteries, and contends with her arch-nemesis Heather Acosta, though there have been a couple of exceptions to the formula.


 * Adult Fear: A lot happens in this series when Sammy investigates mysteries. It gets to the point that Grams asks Sammy to at least be upfront with her if she's doing anything involving gang territory, snooping or crime busting.
 * Sammy's mother abandons her to become a Hollywood actress, leaving her with Grams. While Sammy admits that Grams is a better guardian than Lady Lana ever was, she's worried about the fact that the apartment is seniors' only. As the Crocodile points out when blackmailing Sammy, if she makes a phone call busting her, Grams will be out on the street because there's a long waiting list of people who want her apartment. While Hudson generously offers his house to Grams and Sammy, Sammy doesn't want it to get to that point.
 * One story centers around Sammy running into a scared, desperate girl, who forces Sammy to take a bag. When the girl is forced to leave, it turns out that there's a baby inside.
 * An Aesop: Most of the books have at least one. Despite being Anvilicious at points, they're handled well.
 * Alliterative Name: Tenille Toolee, the Dragon to Heather's Big Bad.
 * Alpha Bitch: Heather, complete with a one-dimensional, dimwitted Girl Posse. The flatness of the characters could easily be explained by Sammy's biased perceptions of them.
 * Arch Enemy: Heather Acosta, to Sammy.
 * Author Appeal: Van Draanen's parents are Dutch immigrants, and so are Dot's. Her husband's great-grandfather crossed the plains in 1850. In Moustache Mary, the eponymous pioneer was part of a group of travelers doing the same thing, and Sammy spends New Years' with Dot's family. It's one of the few cases where the authour appeal is educational-as well as delicious.
 * Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
 * Camp Gay: Art gallery owner--and Ren Faire booth-runner--Jojo in Art of Deception.
 * Chekhov's Gun: As is natural for almost any detective story.
 * City of Adventure: Santa Martina.
 * Character Name and the Noun Phrase: The format all the titles follow.
 * Cool Old Guy: Hudson.
 * Cool Old Lady: Grams has her moments.
 * Cute Bruiser: And again, Sammy.
 * Holly Janquell, her baseball bat, and her troubled past would like to weigh in, too.
 * Darker and Edgier: How many kid detective series involve arson, murder, drugs, and sex, without any loss in quality?
 * As well as having thirteen and fourteen year olds drinking and smoking. While underage drinking and such are handled in other, grittier stories, few of them are aimed at younger children.
 * Deadpan Snarker: A lot of characters in the series have shades of this, but it's most apparent in Sammy's narration.
 * Driving Question: Arguably - Sammy wants to know who her father is, and Van Draanen has stated that the series will end when she finds out.
 * More recently, Van Draanen said on her blog that
 * Enemy Mine: Sammy and Officer Borsch help each other out occasionally.
 * Eureka Moment: Again, as usual for the genre.
 * Evil Redhead: Heather, as well as her mother, though it's been suggested that they're dyeing it.
 * Fair Play Whodunit
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sammy (choleric), Marissa (sanguine), Holly (melancholic), Dot (phlegmatic).
 * He Is Not My Boyfriend: Sammy and Casey. No one believes her.
 * Eventually ends with a Relationship Upgrade.
 * Hidden Depths: Many, many characters.
 * Inspector Javert: Officer Borsch, initially.
 * Intergenerational Friendship: Sammy and Hudson.
 * Sammy and
 * I Was Quite a Looker: Sammy finds an old picture of her neighbor, Mrs. Graybill.
 * Jerkass: Heather, all the way.
 * Danny Urbanski, as well.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Amazingly, Officer Borsch.
 * Kaleidoscope Eyes: Father Mayhew is mentioned to have them.
 * Kick the Dog: Heather's character is practically built upon petty maliciousness. Special mention goes to her taunting Sammy about losing her father's softball mitt in Sisters of Mercy.
 * Kid Detective: Sammy herself, sometimes with help from her friends. She calls it "snooping".
 * Masked Luchador: El Gato in Psycho Kitty Queen.
 * The Nicknamer: Sammy, in regards to practically everything.
 * Out, Damned Spot!: Happens in Sammy Keyes and the Dead Giveaway when . Luckily, it ends better than a lot of examples.
 * Parental Abandonment:
 * Sammy's dad has vanished, and her mother has run off to Hollywood to be an actress.
 * Casey certainly believes this is the case in when his dad Warren  It's also on the Squick side of things for the both of them when they find out that
 * Reality Ensues:
 * Sammy makes the decision to forgive her mother for abandoning her after . That does not mean, however, that she necessarily forgets that Lady Lana is terrible at parenting. She especially is furious when Lana lets Dorito out of the apartment after he catches a mouse and freaks her out, then leaves without saying goodbye. Even Grams is annoyed after Dorito returns safe and sound but covered with fleas, muttering that Lana was irresponsible to not close the fire escape door in time.
 * This is how Heather gets her Karma Houdini Warranty as of The Search for Snake Eyes. When Casey proves that.
 * Retired Badass: One possible interpretation of Hudson.
 * Serious Business: Santa Martina takes softball very seriously, so much so that there's a softball statue in City Hall. It's rumoured that the mayor bows to it every day.
 * Shadow Archetype: Explicitly spelled out as Heather's relationship to Sammy, up to
 * Street Urchin: Holly, initially.
 * Sympathy for the Devil: In Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf,
 * The Password Is Always Swordfish: When Sammy wants to figure out how to crack a safe, the advice Hudson gives her is essentially this trope, but paraphrased.
 * Together in Death: Really, really creepy variation in Sammy Keyes and the Hollywood Mummy.
 * Villainous Breakdown: In the later books, this happens to Heather. She still hasn't really recovered from it.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: A possible interpretation of Heather Acosta. Neither of her parents seem to particularly care about her, with her mom apparently going through some kind of mid-life crisis and her dad wishing he had a restraining order against her.
 * More recently, Heather and her mother have started to like each other. Or, at least, work together against Sammy.
 * Will They Or Won't They: Grams and Hudson have been dancing around this for several books now, with no evident conclusion.