Farm Crimes! The MOO-sterious Disappearance of Cow

Readers first met Detective Billiam Van Hoof in Farm Crimes!: Cracking the Case of the Missing Egg. In this second book in the “Farm Crimes!” series, written and illustrated by Sandra Dumais, Detective Billiam Van Hoof returns to solve the crime of the disappearance of Cow, albeit again in his own bumbling way.
The story begins as the animals of the farm are enjoying a leisurely autumn day when they realize that the calves, unsupervised, are up to mischief. Given that their mother, Cow, would normally be watching them (and stopping them from tugging meanly on sleeping Dog’s ears), the animals quickly realize that Cow is, in fact, missing. And since Inspector Van Hoof is the self-proclaimed number one goat detective in all the world, the farm animals decide to summon him to solve the mystery of Cow’s disappearance, and they do so by using a new supersonic goat whistle.

The whistle interrupts Billiam Van Hoof as he’s preparing his favourite caramel scones, and he rapidly assembles his “detective tools” and sprints off to the barn. However, in his hurry, Billiam realizes he has left the oven on and burned his scones, and, with the benefit of hindsight, he delivers a quick fire safety lecture to the readers. Billiam is again distracted on his journey when he encounters Tina Fuzzymuzzle, a goat from Billiam’s high-school and someone he clearly had a crush on (“evidenced”, as Billiam would say, by a heart drawn around her yearbook photo). After some leisurely catching up, Tina reminds Billiam of the urgent problem at hand, and he returns to his mission, arriving at the barn and starting a new page in his investigator’s notebook.

As Billiam questions the farm animals about Cow’s behaviour prior to her disappearance, he sends each animal on a hunt for more information around the farm. Too frightened to venture into the Great Big Forest near the farm in the search for Cow, Billiam ends up discovering what looks suspiciously like a crop circle in the nearby cornfield. Energized with new alien abduction theories, Billiam abandons the search of the Great Big Forest to return to the farm to hastily warn the farm animals of the alien threat surely facing them. Pig cleverly points out that the “crop circle” may very well just be a sign that the farm’s tractor is broken again.

Several other clues gathered by the farm animals suggest perilous ends for Cow (being turned into hamburger, sold as a tractor to a neighbouring farm and abducted by aliens to name a few), but, thankfully, a trailer arrives returning a glamorously gussied up Cow who reveals that she has just returned from the fall fair where she has won first prize. The animals are embarrassed at forgetting the fall fair date and also for ignoring the inarticulate murmurings of the calves who tried to inform them of their mother’s whereabouts throughout the adventure. Billiam rather arrogantly basks in his success in the case of the missing Cow and returns to his home and slightly burnt scones, only to receive a prank call from onlooking aliens.

Dumais’ quirky combination of illustrations and dialogue keeps this junior graphic novel entertaining throughout, with the plot moving at a steady pace despite frequent humorous asides (which occasionally break the fourth wall). The buffoonish character of Billiam provides an easy joke target, someone who takes himself all too seriously as a detective while his work is mostly completed by those he is “helping”. The frequent asides and distractions offer almost cinematic cutaways that keep the narrative fresh and engaging, with more than enough humorous background details in every page to occupy readers both young and old.

Dumais’ illustration simple and bright style supports the whimsical tone of her dialogue. Her choice of wardrobe for each animal also provides ongoing laughs throughout the narrative; the fussy Hen is decked out in a string of pearls, Sheep in a wool sweater and Cow in an extravagant and eye-catching fall fair ensemble (the joke being that the fall fair amounts to a beauty pageant for animals). This second installment in the “Farm Crimes!” series presents a hilarious and off-kilter adventure that is as likely to keep its adult readers as entertained as its child ones.