Howard Wallace, P.I.

"…Lyall's debut is a winner." -Publishers Weekly "What's with the get-up? Is that the company uniform or something?" "This? All P.I.s wear a trench coat." "Dude, that's a brown bathrobe." I shrugged and straightened out my sleeves. "First rule of private investigation, Ivy: work with what you've got." Twelve-year-old Howard Wallace lives by his list of rules of private investigation. He knows more than anyone how to work with what he's got: a bathrobe for a trench coat, a makeshift office behind the school equipment shed, and not much else-least of all, friends. So when a hot case of blackmail lands on his desk, he's ready to take it on himself . . . until the new kid, Ivy Mason, convinces him to take her on as a junior partner. As they banter through stakeouts and narrow down their list of suspects, Howard starts to wonder if having Ivy as a sidekick-and a friend-is such a bad thing after all. Named a Book Riot middle-grade book for the summer with special recommendation for reluctant readers! Winner of the Red Cedar Book Award for Fiction!   Casey Lyall (5'4", brown hair, blue eyes, no known aliases) is a middle-grade writer from Southwestern Ontario. She works at her local library where she runs a number of teen groups and waits for management to discover they're actually paying her to have fun. When she's not writing, Casey loves to bake, watch an "unhealthy" amount of movies and television, and of course, read. She'd consider adding detective work to the list if she could find a proper coat. You can find her on Twitter as @CKLyall and at caseylyall.com.

"Give this to fans of Encyclopedia Brown who are looking for longer (and funnier!) well-plotted mysteries." -Booklist on Howard Wallace, P.I. "My partner scanned the message and a slow grin took over her face as she said our four favorite words: 'We have a case.'" HOWARD WALLACE IS BACK! Middle-school detectives Howard Wallace and Ivy Mason are itching for a juicy case. But when their friend and cohort Marvin hires them to prove his nephew- über-bully Carl Dean-didn't pugnap the school mascot, they're less than thrilled. To succeed, not only must Howard and Ivy play nice with Carl, they'll have to dodge a scrappy, snoopy reporter and come face-to-face with Howard's worst enemy, his ex-best friend Miles Fletcher. Can Howard deal with all these complications and still be there for Ivy when her life is turned upside down? Or will he once again find himself a friendless P.I.? "Another sequel is in the offing, and young mystery fans should be glad." -Kirkus Reviews Casey Lyall (5'4", brown hair, blue eyes, no known aliases) is a middle-grade writer from Southwestern Ontario, and the author of Howard Wallace, P.I. She works at her local library where she runs a number of teen groups and waits for management to discover they're actually paying her to have fun. When she's not writing, Casey loves to bake, watch an "unhealthy" amount of movies and television, and of course, read. She'd consider adding detective work to the list if she could find a proper coat. You can find her on Twitter as @CKLyall and at caseylyall.com.

Howard and Ivy return for a third adventure! This time, the drama's backstage when someone sets out to sabotage the school play . . . and frame Howard. "I wasn't taking the fall for this. You couldn't force a guy into a job and then blame him when it all went sideways."   Spring (musical) fever has hit the Grantleyville Middle School Drama Club! Since Ivy Mason is busy with the production, she decides to take a break from sleuthing, while Howard Wallace keeps things running smoothly with their detective agency. Then, just a few weeks before showtime, suspicious things start happening backstage: missing costumes, damaged props, and too many other mishaps to be coincidental. Ivy calls in Howard and their crew to take on the case. Howard tries to lay low and quietly sniff out the perp, but he's soon brought into the spotlight when he's framed as the saboteur!  Can the team of intrepid P.I.s clear Howard's name and catch the culprit before the curtain falls on the big show? Casey Lyall (5'4", brown hair, blue eyes, no known aliases) is a middle-grade writer from Southwestern Ontario. She works at her local library where she runs a number of writing groups for kids and is the author of the Howard Wallace, P.I. series, as well as the picture book Inky's Great Escape. Find her on Twitter as @CKLyall and at caseylyall.com.