Depressing Browsing

Recently in an airport I browsed the book stand,
looking for a friendly book to read
whilst I was kept waiting for my friend.
For all I browsed, none came to hand.

In every book the plots were variations
on the themes of child-murder and detective thriller,
the-threat-to-the-family-that-comes-from-nowhere.

Child drowns/goes missing/has disturbed background
which their family will seek to hide-that sort of thing.
The child's character is found in the trail of clues
that they thoughtlessly left behind, for others to find.

Whereas the police forces all have the maverick cop
who's gift is always trouble to the force s/he works for
and they have relationship troubles too, with a side order
of a drink problem and an uneasy over-familiarity
with the criminals who also have their intuitions
about where to be, and who to be seen with,
to be sure of their alibis.

In total it made for depressing browsing,
though it was a noble enough pursuit in itself,
until I asked my friend who had finally arrived,
'What did people used to read?' He replied, 'The Bible'.