Ducky the Spy is back on the beat in trench coat and trilby, with the fabulously flatulent Donny Donkey at his side, and the first thing you notice about Pumpkin Patch Panic! is that nothing has happened. There is no crime on the farm. As Kirkus describes it, the pair have no particular case to solve — so, being detectives, they invent one, to the considerable irritation of Mr. Pig, the easily irritated farm boss.
That is a joke for five-year-olds. It is also a fairly complete description of how reading works. Nothing on a shelf announces itself. The case is something you bring.
Crime writing has always been unusually honest about this. Look at what came across the desk this week: the Guardian's roundup of recent crime and thrillers gathers Chris Bohjalian's The Amateur , Bella Mackie's Claws Out! , Minyoung Kang's Plant Lady , Lawrence Osborne's Children of Wolves and Sally Hepworth's Mad Mabel . Book Riot's daily deals, meanwhile, offer a hunt for Vlad the Impaler, a thriller set in Long Beach, and witchy sisters living under a family curse.