When hired by a fellow fourth-grader to find her missing brother, Chet Gecko uncovers a plot involving a Gila monster's revenge upon the school football team. Case #1

Set-up for the Chet Gecko Mystery series has Chet taking on a case at school where the little brother of a girl he likes is missing. The doll does not give Chet all the info she has and he has to do a little detective work. He gets a sidekick he didn't want with Natalie but it is a good thing she's there. She's got the brains.

I enjoyed this book. The world building is good. It reminded me of a 1940's Film Noir movie. I liked Chet's thought process. He needs Natalie but eventually figures it out. I loved the humor and cannot wait to read the rest of the series. ( )

I can't help but love this story. Chet Gecko is just plain funny, beginning to end. His gum-shoe detective work is wonderfully oddball and funny in a way that few books maintain so consistently. Natalie, his sleuthing partner, is cheesy and brilliant and he is so in love with private-eye motif that you can't help but love him. Great book, so long as you don't take yourself too seriously to get caught up in the fun. ( )

Fourth-grader Chet Gecko is known around the playground as the guy who can solve mysteries, so when Shirley Chameleon’s little brother Billy is missing, she turns to Chet to find him. This charming little book is the kid’s version of the noir, hard-boiled detective story, although it’s told in a tongue-in-cheek way. I found it hysterically funny because of that, although I’m not sure kids will get all of the little jokes and plays on words. Nevertheless, the other jokes and the mystery of Billy’s disappearance should be enough to hold their attention. ( )

Chet Gecko talks a pretty good talk but his detection skills need some work. This never stops him from trying and the path to the solution (after following more than a few off-the-beaten path clues) is worth turning the pages to the end.