The second title in this smoothly written middle-grade series (My Dog Is Better than Your Dog, 2015) solidly builds on its debut by exploring change. The friends who formed the Crimebiters are challenged by other demands: Jimmy has joined a lacrosse team with Baxter, Daisy has a new friend, and canine Abby's training seems to have transformed her. Does she still have the instinct to fight crime? But someone seems to be sabotaging Jimmy and Baxter's team members are injured one by one, hurting their chance to beat their biggest rival. At the right moment, Abby is back to her criminal-biting high jinks. Stower's perky, exaggerated drawings add extra humor to the mix, and this has the right combination of doggy deeds, friendship, fun, and mystery. Perfect for readers looking for light fare.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2016 Booklist

Following on My Dog Is Better than Your Dog (2015), this second in the CrimeBiters! series finds crime-fighting vampire dog Abby going to obedience school.Eleven-year old Jimmy, white president and founder of the CrimeBiters club, seems to be falling out with his best friend, Irwin, a black boy, over fellow club member Daisy, the white girl whom both like. Jimmy has befriended former bully Baxter, a white boy and a new club member, and joins the local lacrosse team with him. Irwin resents the time Jimmy spends playing lacrosse, but Jimmy has become a good goalie and even begins skipping club meetings. Troublingly, lacrosse team members begin to experience too-frequent injuries, leading Jimmy to wonder if somethings afoot. Meanwhile, Abby chews up one too many of his moms shoes, and she might make Jimmy take Abby back to the shelter. To save Abby, Jimmy takes her to obedience class, where she becomes all too docile for Jimmys taste. Is she no longer a crime-fighting vampire dog? The two storylines merge when Abby helps to solve the injury mystery. Greenwald focuses far more attention on Jimmys precarious social life than on Abby this time, although he includes enough dog action to justify the books title. The gentle lesson on how friendship should endure even when something interferes is leavened with humor generated by the return of Jimmys nemesis from the previous book, Mrs. Cragg. Fun and friendship combine for a satisfying sequel. (Fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.