Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
Patrick Horvath, writer & illustrator; Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, letterer
IDW, 2024

Brown bear Samantha Strong is a pillar of the community in the small town of Woodbrook (which is populated entirely by other animals). She owns the hardware store and is consistently kind and helpful. In the big city of Centerville, which is just a short drive away, Sam pursues the activity that “muffles the voice” in her head: killing random people and burying them in the woods. As we watch her choose the day’s victim, she lays out her rules: first, no playing in Woodbrook, only in cities (where people go missing every day, so it does not attract much attention); second, always keep it random. She has an organized (neat and tidy!) murder technique, shocking when it is revealed. And the victim joins 43 others buried there over the course of 20 years.

Woodbrook is celebrating its 200-year anniversary, but when one of the parade floats falls apart it reveals a grisly murder. Sam now knows that there is another murderer in town. She must find them before suspicion falls on her. Of course Sheriff Patterson is on the case, but Sam has special insight into a fellow psychopath. More deaths follow before Sam figures out the identity of the perpetrator. It turns out that Nigel is a fan who has been following her, so he knows all of her secrets. When she rejects him he does not take it well, so much of the remaining story is a cat and mouse game. Nigel retaliates by leaving incriminating evidence pointing to Samantha, which seems to be working–until she figures out a way to turn the tables.

Describing this book as a funny animal story about serial killers is succinct, but it fails to capture the disorientation I felt while reading it. Horvath’s illustrations have the look of a children’s picture book, but many of the actions portrayed are completely outside of the usual narrative. It is a remarkable storytelling feat.