Pretty Boy Detective Club‘s third volume, despite being called The Pretty Boy in the Attic, is about a bunch of paintings found above the clubroom in a crawlspace. But fans of the first two novels’ science fiction-heavy twists will be disappointed in this entry…and perhaps a bit confused by references to a lot of classic art and fiction.
Mayumi, the only female member of the titular Pretty Boy Detective Club, continues to act as narrator. However, she still is quite contrarian and hasn’t fully accepted herself as a member and just doesn’t like to do what she’s told. Plus, the boys’ personalities and quirks don’t make it personally easy for her, from Manabu’s youthfulness to Sosaku’s almost eternal silence. Not to mention her rivalry with Michiru over their sharp tongues. In the end, The Pretty Boy in the Attic is about Mayumi closing the gap between herself and the boys, even though I really don’t think it was necessary after their bigger adventures in the first two novels.
And the first two’s mysteries are certainly more grand adventures. While sci-fi tech is still present here, this is more on the level of a typical school mystery. The newly-discovered storagespace in the clubroom houses a bunch of weird paintings, and Manabu tasks the group with finding out who is behind them. And it turns out not much investigation is needed, nothing in the vein of volume 2’s undercover operation. I guess you could say the book is twisty in the sense there really isn’t a twist.
The Pretty Boy in the Attic does have some connection to that volume, and Mayumi knows that the people she encountered there and in volume 1 are likely to return. So maybe The Pretty Boy in the Attic is just the calm before the storm, the easygoing adventure before the bigger ones as NISIOSIN sets up uneasy alliances and Mayumi gaining some tools.
Still, there’s a general lack of fun in this one, especially as Mayumi ponders The Dog of Flanders, naming paintings, or the shock of Manabu not knowing the origin of Edogawa Rampo’s name. All stuff where NISIOSIN writes that this volume was Sosaku’s time to shine, but considering there is little investigating to do (and no real antagonist here), his moment in the spotlight comes at the expense of the others doing even less.
I did enjoy Mayumi trying to top Michiru even as she acknowledges it’s probably not a good idea to squabble with the person in charge of food and drinks. Yes, it’s kind of a pointless one-upmanship, but at least it was entertaining to see Mayumi cheer as she recognizes more paintings than Michiru or sulk when his theory is better than hers. These are usually just quick barbs, but they were the highlight of The Pretty Boy in the Attic.
I also will fondly look back upon the ending and the closing illustration, as now hopefully the Pretty Boy Detective Club is truly a 5-member team. Otherwise, though, I expected more from this series, as both the mystery and the action were lame and/or limited. It’s a volume that deserves to be stuffed in the attic and only brought out on occasion.