The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake

This hardboiled first entry in the Wilcox and Griswold Mystery series follows two mice on the hunt for the carrot cake that has gone missing from Miss Rabbit’s home. Simultaneously no-nonsense and full of nonsense, Newman’s Dragnet-style narrative works in a bevy of food- and animal-themed crime jokes as the two Missing Food Investigators interview suspects across the farmyard (Porcini the pig’s rap sheet “was a mile long for corn robberies, but he had no cake priors”). Zemke’s cartoons, a mix of spot illustrations and full-page images, keep step with the lighthearted mood; it’s a good pick for fans of Geoffrey Hayes’s Otto and Uncle Tooth, Jennifer Lloyd’s Murilla Gorilla, and other literary sleuths in the making. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Ronnie Ann Herman, Herman Agency. (Apr.)