A Case in Any Case

Things have changed in the cozy police station in the forest since last we visited with Detective Gordon (a toad) and his enthusiastic assistant police officer Buffy (a mouse) in Detective Gordon: A Complicated Case (rev. 3/16). Gordon is experimenting with retirement, and he finds that his life lacks purpose. He's also feeling jealous of Buffy's popularity within the forest community. For her part, Buffy, now acting as chief detective, is a bit nervous in the police station all alone and misses Gordon's company. But they are both too proud to admit their needs, and it takes a crisis (two missing kindergartners), then an argument ("Stupid old toad!" "Idiot child!") to bring them together and lead to an acknowledgment of their warm affection for each other. There are two cases to be solved in this story. Readers will have cracked the first one--who is the "nighttime scrabbler?"--by the end of the first chapter. The other case--where are the missing kindergarteners?--needs all Buffy's people (well, creature) skills and all Gordon's deductive reasoning to sort out. The tone here is understatedly hilarious: the list of equipment and supplies that the various animals carry on their expedition to rescue the missing bunnies goes on for a full three pages, building in nuttiness and absurdity--and seldom has a rubber stamp functioned so powerfully. sarah ellis