ABANDONED. Picture book about a group of animals trying to fix the mechanical defenses of a town

[Jen]

Read it as a kid, so must have been published before 87. The animals arrive at a town that is under threat of attack. There used to be complex mechanical defenses that protected the town but have broken, tied to the fancy clock in the town square. The team looks up the clock in the library and discovers the blueprints, which they use to fix it. One of protective elements was that weight on the drawbridge coming in to town would cause the defenses to start, I think.

I remembered the group of animals as "The Frog Band", but when I went to a website describing those books none of them seemed to match this plot.

[Kris]

How about "The Frog Band and the Mystery of Lion Castle" by Jim Smith? Here's the publisher's description on FirConBooks.com (which also has additional cover images).

"On his way to an International Conference of Sleuths in his hot air balloon, Alphonse le Flic, eminent detective, is forced to land in the courtyard of Lion Castle when his balloon suffers a puncture. Also seeking help from the castle's affable owner is the famous Frog Band, whose truck has broken down. Through the innocent curiosity of the band's tuba player, Shortie Frog, a chain of events is set in motion that results in the solving of an age-old mystery: what became of Brooker's ancestor Clarence de Lyon?"

[Jen]

I don't think this is it, since the "mystery" in the book I read was how to make the clock work again, not any missing ancestors.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Jen, are you still looking for this book?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Jen, are you still looking for this book?"

No response; moved to Abandoned.