When Dirk Dilly gets a call from a distraught wife, he does not expect much in the way of exciting crimes to solve, but he sets off to follow the husband anyway. He couldn't be more wrong and soon he is up to his scaly neck in stolen government secrets, wicked and treacherous dragons, and a confused Prime Minister's son. Of course, nothing is too difficult when you can rely on a good friend like Holly to help you out.

Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention. Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

When Detective Dirk Dilly gets a surprise visit from a Sea Dragon in need of his sleuthing skills, at first he dismisses the case. After all, dragons are extremely high risk and they rarely pay well. But soon Dirk is stuck - from his horny head to the tip of his scaly tail - right in the thick of a dramatic new mystery full of unexpected danger. His trusty friend Holly has made some startling discoveries too, and it's not long before Holly and Dirk are together involved in perhaps their slipperiest mystery yet, involving the strange disappearance of a sister, a dodgy billionaire and some very powerful dragons. Not to mention they will make some unlikely friends along the way in this compelling and plot-driven story full of exciting and unusual twists and turns.

When Holly and her friend Archie are in LA (flown out there by the billionaire Brant Buchanan) they bump into a character from Holly's past. Petal Moses is in the middle of making the film version of her autobiography. While filming in the heart of the Californian desert, the director catches something 'dragonlike' on camera. However, before it can be properly examined, the roll of film goes missing. Realising this is a case for Dirk, Holly immediately calls him up. In no time at all, the dragon detective is up to his neck once more in a dangerous investigation involving some Californian Desert Dragons who spit poison rather than breathe fire.

A hair-raising family adventure that will have you howling with enjoyment!

How is academia portrayed in children's literature? This Element ambitiously surveys fictional professors in texts marketed towards children, who are overwhelmingly white and male, tending to be elderly scientists. Professors fall into three stereotypes: the vehicle to explain scientific facts, the baffled genius, and the evil madman. By the late twentieth century, the stereotype of the male, mad, muddlehead, called Professor SomethingDumb, is formed in humorous yet pejorative fashion. This Element provides a publishing history of the role of academics in children's literature, questioning the book culture which promotes the enforcement of stereotypes regarding intellectual expertise in children's media. This title is also available, with additional material, as Open Access.