Joe Cruncher is thirteen years old, but he’s hardly a typical teenager. Cruncher can communicate with the dead, and he’s not too happy about it—especially since ghosts can be annoying, mean, and downright dangerous. When he starts working one mysterious case in particular, however, Cruncher gets the mob on his tail. Now his life is in deadly danger, but he’s so busy he doesn’t even notice until it’s almost too late. His attempts at providing comfort to lost souls bring many misfortunes his way, and as he is bounced from one awful incident to another he has no time to consider what threats may still be ahead. Cruncher is viewed with suspicion by the police, has to fight a war with some disgusting raccoons, and even has to deal with a horrifying monster in a lake. He’s also in serious danger of losing his girlfriend, Andrea, and that is the threat he fears the most. If he were alone, he would have no hope. Fortunately, he isn’t exactly alone, but, unfortunately, he almost may as well be. The only help Cruncher receives comes from two unlikely sources, and it’s not much. One is a dignified spirit who tries to teach him wisdom, and the other is a former enemy who decides to help him do detective work. Will anything these two do be enough to help Cruncher escape the mob, give peace to an enormous number of miserable ghosts, and keep his girlfriend? Yeah, probably not.

What do you get when you combine an overactive imagination with a desire to be a tough-guy private eye? Normally youd just get a typical teenage boy. Now, what do you get when you throw in the ability to see ghosts? Thats correctyou get a scared teenage boy. Thus you have Joe Cruncher, and hes extremely serious about becoming a private investigator. Hes even managed to convince himself that his ability to get into ridiculous situations shows hes cut out for this line of work. All Cruncher needs is a good caper, and he can prove hes a great detective. Fortunately, a ghost recently brought a job his way. From this point on, Joe Cruncher, Private Eye, is on the loose. Can Cruncher solve this case? Its entirely possible. The real question is, can Cruncher solve this case without destroying the world around him? Silly question! Of course not!

A mysterious creature is stealing all the cookies at the Snookie-Cookie Bakery. Join the Snookie-Cookie Crew as they collect clues and rely on their imaginations and problem solving skills to solve the mystery of the Cranberry Cookie Cruncher!

I once told one of my American friends about the great Canadian sea serpent, the Ogopogo of Lake Okanagan. His only response was, Bucky, a country needs to have culture before it can have mythology. Well, the hard reality is that Canada really does have monster legends. Whether or not we have culture yet is still up in the air. However, I will swear to my dying day that the Ogopogo exists, because I saw it with my own eyes. Coincidentally, this sighting took place on the Ogopogos dying day, because I also accidentally killed it. (Hey, I said reality was hard.) Hi. Im Bucky Laroo.

From the #1 name in crosswords comes this fun collection of 130 crosswords that have been chosen from puzzles published in the Monday and Tuesday editions of the "New York Times." Original.

Large-print clues may make these puzzles from the pages of The New York Times easy on the eyes, but they will still challenge the brain. Under Will Shortz's editorship, Large-Print Volume 4 features: * 120 easy-to-read crossword puzzles * All levels of difficulty: drawn from the Monday through Friday editions of the Times * Author bylines that allow fans to get to know today's top contributors.

For puzzlers who just can't get enough, here's a collection to last from January to December in a compact trade paperback format.