THE CASE OF THE BAD APPLES

More hard-boiled hilarity, this time with a side of apples.

In their third case, mice Detective Wilcox and Capt. Griswold, esteemed Missing Food Investigators, look into the latest “bad apple” on the farm. The action starts with a call from a doctor at Whole Hog Emergency Care. It seems Porcini “pigged out” on a basket of apples that may have been deliberately poisoned! For the MFIs, that’s a Code 22—better known as “attempted hamslaughter.” The detectives rush to the scene of the crime to get the 411 and “save [Porcini’s] bacon.” At the pig’s pen, they find the basket (with four remaining apples) and a series of hoof, claw, and paw prints. The MFIs quickly narrow down the suspects to fellow farm animals Sweet Pea (another pig), Herman the Vermin (a rat), and Hot Dog (a dog, natch). But whodunit? Forensics will reveal the truth. With a successful formula established in earlier series entries, this one’s par for the course. The five chapters range in text complexity, reaching 23 lines at most per page. Full-color cartoon spot illustrations provide contextual clues and break up the text. Though yellow sticky notes define slangy terms like “tox screen” and “perp,” the abundant wordplay is perhaps best deciphered by more confident readers.

Completely “pig-dic-u-lous”—and a whole lot of fun.