Bruce Hale is the author of five picture books as well as the Chet Gecko mysteries. A popular speaker, teacher, and storyteller for children and adults, he was awarded a Fulbright grant in 1998 to teach stroytelling and to study folklore in Thailand. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Chet Gecko loves a good mystery. Almost more than he loves his feestinkbug pie. So when fellow fourth grader Shirley Chameleon asks him to find her missing brother, Billy, Chet expects the case to be as easy a pie. But Billys disappearance is part of a larger plot, one that involves the Rat Sisters, a riddling junkyard dog, and a vicious Gila monster named Herman. If Chet doesnt solve the case fast, the entire school could be humiliated. Worst of all, Chet might not get his fee. And Chets hungry. . . .