From USA Today bestselling author Leslie Langtry comes a killer summer camping trip! In her career as a spy, Merry Wrath had her share of camping trips—from glamping in a yurt at Oktoberfest with drug lord Carlos the Armadillo to an awkward team building campout in the backyard of a Yakuza mob boss who thought “trust falls” should have lethal consequences. So when the former CIA turned Girl Scout troop leader has the opportunity to take six girls from her troop into a vast, private nature preserve in search of an abandoned scout camp, she jumps at it. The fact that she can secretly use this as a chance to meet up with another spy who has asked for her help just seems to be an added bonus. Of course she doesn't expect to find a guy named Chad in a shallow grave. He’s still alive, at least for the moment, and he insists on accompanying them further into the woods. Merry’s contact is a no-show, but another, more dangerous colleague surprises them on the trail. And just when she thinks she might be able to handle things, the group find themselves confronted by a hostile group of senior citizen hermits. From the strange noises in the night, to vampire ticks, and the constant fear of being invaded by Communists, everything in Merry’s world appears to be dangerously off kilter. When she’s accosted by a 200lb snapping turtle named Old Eisenhower, Merry realizes that not everything is what it appears to be. Can Merry figure out who is behind the strange occurrences before the camping trip ends up with a body count? Merry Wrath Mysteries: Merit Badge Murder – book #1 Mint Cookie Murder – book #2 Scout Camp Mystery – short story in the "Killer Beach Reads" collection Marshmallow S'More Murder – book #3 Movie Night Murder – book #4 Mud Run Murder – book #5 Fishing Badge Murder – short story in the "Pushing Up Daisies" collection Motto for Murder – book #6 Map Skills Murder – book #7 Mean Girl Murder – book #8 Marriage Vow Murder – book #9 Mystery Night Murder – book #10 Meerkats and Murder– book #11 Make Believe Murder – book #12 Maltese Vulture Murder – book #13 Musket Ball Murder – book #14 Macho Man Murder – book #15 Mad Money Murder – book #16 Mind-Bending Murder – book #17 Mascots Are Murder – book #18 Mosquito Bite Murder – book #19 What critics are saying about Leslie Langtry's books: "I laughed so hard I cried on multiple occasions! Girl Scouts, the CIA, and the Yakuza... what could possibly go wrong?" ~ Fresh Fiction "Darkly funny and wildly over the top, this mystery answers the burning question, 'Do assassin skills and Girl Scout merit badges mix…?'" ~ RT BOOKreviews "Mixing a deadly sense of humor and plenty of sexy sizzle, Leslie Langtry creates a brilliantly original, laughter-rich mix of contemporary romance and suspense." ~ Chicago Tribune "Langtry gets the fun started from page one." ~ Publisher's Weekly

**The instant New York Times bestseller.** *An international bestseller.* Finalist for the Lane Anderson Award Finalist for the RBC Taylor Award “Hugely impressive, a major work.”—NPR A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution? The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito. Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power. The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village. Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes, or any mosquitoes, for that matter? Our history and the world we know, or think we know, would be completely unrecognizable. Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling, The Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story of the mosquito’s reign through human history and her indelible impact on our modern world order.

Let the good times roll! It's Spring Break, and ex-CIA agent Merry Wrath decides to take her precocious scout troop to a small town in Louisiana for Mardi Gras. Who Dat, LA is Who's There, Iowa's sister city, so naturally the whole town turns out to greet them with carriage rides, a swamp tour, and a cake party. Unfortunately for them, someone isn't happy they're in town...Bring the big guns--we'll have some fun on the bayou! Strange stories of a local half-gator/half-man, a weird ritual at a voodoo queen's grave, and a tea room filled with taxidermy make Who Dat seem like it's another planet, but Merry's gut tells her there's something unnervingly familiar about this town. Southern hospitality gives way to suspicion when two people are murdered and Merry was the last to see them alive. Is the killer really a vampire, like the police believe? What is their Bed and Breakfast host hiding in the locked third floor? How is Merry going to explain to the girls that they can't name the pelican that follows them around Deep Throat? Merry doesn't have any answers, but when someone close to her is arrested, and a dangerous threat is revealed, she has to find the killer quickly, before Fat Tuesday becomes Fatal Tuesday! Merry Wrath Mysteries: Merit Badge Murder - book #1; Mint Cookie Murder - book #2; Scout Camp Mystery - short story in the "Killer Beach Reads" collection; Marshmallow S'More Murder - book #3; Movie Night Murder - book #4; Mud Run Murder - book #5; Fishing Badge Murder - short story in the "Pushing Up Daisies" collection; Motto for Murder - book #6; Map Skills Murder - book #7; Mean Girl Murder - book #8; Marriage Vow Murder - book #9; Mystery Night Murder - book #10; Meerkats and Murder- book #11; Make Believe Murder - book #12; Maltese Vulture Murder - book #13; Musket Ball Murder - book #14; Macho Man Murder - book #15; Mad Money Murder - book #16; Mind-Bending Murder - book #17; Mascots Are Murder - book #18; Mosquito Bite Murder - book #19; Manga and Murder - book #20; Mayor for Murder - book #21; Mardi Gras Murder - book #22.

"READY-OR-NOT-HERE-I-COME." The boy listens. The girl is getting closer. Suddenly, there's another sound. A droning buzz. Something else is looking for the boy. The seeker is a mosquito, Culex pipiens, and her search is a matter of life and death. She must find food—blood—to nourish the hundreds of tiny eggs inside her body. Black-and-white photographs show the children's game of hide-and-seek, while astonishing micrographs show Culex and her world as seen through an electron microscope. Zoom in for a close-up view: A blade of grass looks like a menacing field of spines. A mosquito's eye becomes a bundle of tightly packed tubes. Discover the life story of a mosquito from a truly larger-than-life point of view.

“Extremely interesting . . . Young people interested in medicine or scientific discovery will find this book engrossing, as will history students” (School Library Journal). [He had] a fever that hovered around 104 degrees. His skin turned yellow. The whites of his eyes looked like lemons. Nauseated, he gagged and threw up again and again . . . Here is the true story of how four Americans and one Cuban tracked down a killer, one of the word’s most vicious plagues: yellow fever. Journeying to fever-stricken Cuba in the company of Walter Reed and his colleagues, the reader feels the heavy air, smells the stench of disease, hears the whine of mosquitoes biting human volunteers during surreal experiments. Exploring themes of courage, cooperation, and the ethics of human experimentation, this gripping account is ultimately a story of the triumph of science. “[A] powerful exploration of a disease that killed 100,000 U.S. citizens in the 1800s.” —Kirkus Reviews Includes photos

An enthusiastic, witty, and informative introduction to the world of insects and why we—and the planet we inhabit—could not survive without them. Insects comprise roughly half of the animal kingdom. They live everywhere—deep inside caves, 18,000 feet high in the Himalayas, inside computers, in Yellowstone’s hot springs, and in the ears and nostrils of much larger creatures. There are insects that have ears on their knees, eyes on their penises, and tongues under their feet. Most of us think life would be better without bugs. In fact, life would be impossible without them. Most of us know that we would not have honey without honeybees, but without the pinhead-sized chocolate midge, cocoa flowers would not pollinate. No cocoa, no chocolate. The ink that was used to write the Declaration of Independence was derived from galls on oak trees, which are induced by a small wasp. The fruit fly was essential to medical and biological research experiments that resulted in six Nobel prizes. Blowfly larva can clean difficult wounds; flour beetle larva can digest plastic; several species of insects have been essential to the development of antibiotics. Insects turn dead plants and animals into soil. They pollinate flowers, including crops that we depend on. They provide food for other animals, such as birds and bats. They control organisms that are harmful to humans. Life as we know it depends on these small creatures. With ecologist Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson as our capable, entertaining guide into the insect world, we’ll learn that there is more variety among insects than we can even imagine and the more you learn about insects, the more fascinating they become. Buzz, Sting, Bite is an essential introduction to the little creatures that make the world go round.

From USA Today bestselling author Leslie Langtry comes another hilarious Merry Wrath Mystery! Former CIA assassin turned Girl Scout Troop leader Merry Wrath, can't believe it's finally here—the Who’s There, Iowa mayoral showdown between the dull and clueless Mayor Van Meter, and uber-ambitious eleven-year old girl scout Ava. It’s a campaign like no other with a debate worthy of any three-ring circus! To make matters worse, there’s disharmony among the teen druids at the Cult of NicoDerm, CIA assassin Hilly and fifth grader Betty get up to some questionable practices, and a political worker is thrown off the roof of Sugar Lip’s Feeling Lucky House of Delights Ice Cream Parlor. It doesn’t help at all when the mayor goes missing and many think Betty finally acted on her goal to kidnap him. As the authorities close in on Ava and Betty, can Merry solve the murder and find the mayor before the election…or will she be leading future scout meetings in juvie? Merry Wrath Mysteries: Merit Badge Murder – book #1 Mint Cookie Murder – book #2 Scout Camp Mystery – short story in the "Killer Beach Reads" collection Marshmallow S'More Murder – book #3 Movie Night Murder – book #4 Mud Run Murder – book #5 Fishing Badge Murder – short story in the "Pushing Up Daisies" collection Motto for Murder – book #6 Map Skills Murder – book #7 Mean Girl Murder – book #8 Marriage Vow Murder – book #9 Mystery Night Murder – book #10 Meerkats and Murder– book #11 Make Believe Murder – book #12 Maltese Vulture Murder – book #13 Musket Ball Murder – book #14 Macho Man Murder – book #15 Mad Money Murder – book #16 Mind-Bending Murder – book #17 Mascots Are Murder – book #18 Mosquito Bite Murder – book #19 Manga and Murder – book #20 Mayor for Murder – book #21 What critics are saying about Leslie Langtry's books: "I laughed so hard I cried on multiple occasions! Girl Scouts, the CIA, and the Yakuza... what could possibly go wrong?" ~ Fresh Fiction "Darkly funny and wildly over the top, this mystery answers the burning question, 'Do assassin skills and Girl Scout merit badges mix…?'" ~ RT BOOKreviews "Mixing a deadly sense of humor and plenty of sexy sizzle, Leslie Langtry creates a brilliantly original, laughter-rich mix of contemporary romance and suspense." ~ Chicago Tribune "Langtry gets the fun started from page one." ~ Publisher's Weekly