Humorous Fiction Mysteries

The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse: Chet Gecko loves a good mystery. Almost more than he loves his fee - stinkbug pie. So when fellow fourth grader Shirley Chameleon asks him to find her missing brother, Billy, Chet expects the case to be as easy as pie. But Billy's disappearance is part of a larger plot. The Mystery of Mr. Nice: Most folks know him as the best lizard detective at Emerson Hicky Elementary, but it's not all knuckles and know-how with Chet Gecko. He's also got his artistic side. If it wasn't for his art, he might never have been sent to Principal Zero's office, where he stumbled onto the mystery of Mr. Nice.

When a female attorney relocates to the quaint town of Mojo, Louisiana to take over the practice of a dead man, she thinks the welcome gift on her office doorstep is sweet...until she opens it to find a voodoo doll! After a horrible death occurs that's a little too close for comfort, she can no longer ignore the power of the evil doll...and frantically realizes her secret past might be catching up with her.

Gina, Edgar, Elena, and Kevin have been best friends for as long as they can remember. So when their arch-nemesis points out that their initials make them literally GEEKs, they decide to go with it. The GEEKs’ hometown of Elmwood was once the headquarters of the famous toymaker Maxine Van Houten. Her popular puzzle sphere, the Bamboozler, put the town on the map. But Maxine passed away long ago. Now the toy factory is shutting down, and Elena’s mom and Kevin’s dad are losing their jobs. They might have to move—and that would mean splitting up the GEEKs!

What sort of madman would unleash an army of stilt-walking, laser-beaming, thoroughly angry whales upon the world? Who cares! All that matters is that his dastardly plan be foiled. Lucky for Lily Gefelty, her two best friends are the intrepid stars of their own middle-grade series novels: Jasper Dash (better know as the Boy Technonaut) and Katie Mulligan (beloved by millions as the heroine of the Horror Hollow series). It's going to take all their smarts to stop this insane, inane plot from succeeding.

When 15-year-old Beck Phillips travels by train to the secluded village of Kingsplot to live with his wealthy but estranged uncle, Beck discovers some dark family secrets. A buried basement, a forbidden wall, an old book of family history with odd references to...dragons? Beck's life is about to be changed forever in this suspenseful tale about the destructive nature of greed and the courage to make things right.

Math-genius mercenary Cas Russell has stopped a shadow organization from brainwashing the world and discovered her past was deliberately erased and her superhuman abilities deliberately created. And that's just the start: When a demolitions expert targets Cas and her friends, and the hidden conspiracy behind Cas' past starts to reappear, the past, present, and future collide in a race to save one of her dearest friends.

In this darkly comic novel about a wife whose rope is so frayed it's about to snap, Laurel gets a call that her husband has been in an accident. She imagines the worst. But as she is on the way to the ER, another emotion seizes her. Relief. Doug's death could solve all her problems. No more catering to his incessant demands. Then there's the insurance money. Laurel's dreams seem so close. There's just one problem: Doug is very much alive. Now Laurel has to decide if she is going to do something about it.

When a group of short construction workers begins building a school playground, Lisa begins to suspect that they are really Christmas elves, but Melody and Howie think Lisa has an overactive imagination.

Missing shoes, stolen paperclips, and stalkers. Oh, what an afterlife! Bridget finally gets her first assignment as an Independent Authority agent: The not-so-glamorous case of The Paperclip Theft. Regardless, she is determined to close the matter quickly and move on to something more challenging. And then, the dead body of the Afterlife Arrivals commander topples out of the stationery cupboard.

Fired. Tara Holloway can't believe it. After all she's done for the IRS, a few too many shots fired from her weapon and suddenly she's public enemy number one. To add insult to injury, another agent has replaced her, and a 10-million-dollar assault case is hanging over her head. So much for traveling to Tokyo with Special Agent Nick Pratt, former partner and current boyfriend. Tara's stuck in Texas, and using green tea ice cream to soothe her disappointment, as well as the terrifying prospect of a life behind bars.

Zach Johnson, the world's last freelance detective, has been man-napped by the beautiful sapphire-haired Amazon Kiana. She's brought him to her home island of Lantis - where the women dominate men with their words - to discover who killed her mother, the Queen. But to save the day this time, Zach and his holographic AI sidekick, HARV, have to tangle with not just one gorgeous superwoman, but four. Each of Kiana's three sisters could have the motive and the means to pull off the crime - and now that you mention it, Kiana could too....

The Crim family is full of notorious criminals. Notoriously inept, that is. Uncle Knuckles once tried to steal a carnival. Great-Uncle Bernard held himself hostage by accident. Aunt Drusilla died slipping on a banana peel. But Imogen is different. She was born with a skill for scandal. A knack for the nefarious. A mastery of misdemeanors.

Kate’s going to prison—Alcatraz, that is! When her brother, Andrew, comes to San Francisco on a business trip, Kate takes some time off sleuthing to hang out with her family and tour the city’s best sites. She thinks the hardest part will be playing nice with her Instagram influencer sister-in-law. But then Andrew’s work rival winds up dead—and Kate, nearly seven months pregnant with twins, is trapped on Alcatraz with the killer.

When Kate’s best friend Paula is hired to renovate one of San Francisco’s famous Victorian-style “painted ladies,” it seems like the gig of a lifetime. But when a stiletto-brandishing tenant chases Kate and Paula off the front steps, it quickly becomes clear that finding the perfect paint swatches is going to be the easy part. And that’s before a skeleton in a Victorian-era gown tumbles out of the attic. Kate knows she has to take the case . . . but what’s she supposed to do with nine-month-old Laurie now that her main babysitter’s found a new job?

Herobrine, the artificially intelligent virus, was deleted. The computer it resided in was completely destroyed. Without their leader, the few survivors of its evil army were cast away into the shadows. It looked as if there would finally be peace and happiness throughout the servers of Minecraft.

It is tricky enough being in the first freshmen class of humans in a post-intergraded galactic military high school, but Karel must work to push past cultural prejudice (others, as well as her own) in order to solve the attempted assassination of her new principal. And there is a space dog. Because space dogs are awesome. No, you stop making up sci-fi animals!

Jackpot! Hank is the happiest cowdog in the universe when scraptime leaves him with not one but three juicy T-bones. But before Hank has a chance to enjoy his treasure, they disappear! It can only mean one thing - there's a dreaded Bone Monster loose on the ranch. Can Hank put a stop to this devious creature - or will he lose his precious T-bones forever?

Even Truly Lovejoy has to admit that teeny-tiny Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire, has its charms - like the annual maple festival, where tourists flock from all over to sample the local maple syrup, maple candy, maple coffee, and even maple soap! But when someone tries to sabotage the maple trees on her friend Franklin's family farm, Truly has to rally the Pumpkin Falls Private Eyes to investigate.

When Brian and Gregory receive an invitation to stay at a distant relative's strange manse...well, they should know better than to go, since this is a middle-grade adventure novel. But they go anyway. Why not? Once there, they stumble upon The Game of Sunken Places, a board game that mirrors a greater game for which they have suddenly become players. Soon the boys are dealing with attitudinal trolls, warring kingdoms, and some very starchy britches.

Twenty years ago, I stole something that could win the war between Heaven and Hell. Don't get me wrong, I'm no do-gooder. I wanted to rule everything with the King of Hell. However, I have serious qualms with killing eight billion people in order to get what I want. He didn't. Irreconcilable differences, right? So, I did what any witch would do. I faked my death and hid out in the Seattle suburbs, living as a mundane. Stay at home moms are practically invisible here!