The Christmas Lizard

So what does a lizard have to do with Christmas? Plenty, if you ask this tiny, scaly, squiggly friend! Oscar, who's really a pet iguana, takes readers to a holiday wonderland as he ventures up his family's Christmas tree in search of the true meaning of the season. On his journey, he meets lots of fun and familiar ornaments that explain to him why Christmas is the biggest, most wonderful celebration of the year.

The Edgar Award-winning editor collects sixty of his all-time favorite holiday crime stories—from Arthur Conan Doyle and Thomas Hardy, to Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain. • “Anyone who cares about the best mystery writing of the past century and beyond would be lucky to receive this thick volume during the holidays." —The Washington Post This collection touches on all aspects of the holiday season, and all types of mysteries. They are suspenseful, funny, frightening, and poignant. Included are puzzles by Mary Higgins Clark, Isaac Asimov, and Ngaio Marsh; uncanny tales in the tradition of A Christmas Carol by Peter Lovesey and Max Allan Collins; O. Henry-like stories by Stanley Ellin and Joseph Shearing, stories by pulp icons John D. MacDonald and Damon Runyon; comic gems from Donald E. Westlake and John Mortimer; and many, many more. Almost any kind of mystery you’re in the mood for--suspense, pure detection, humor, cozy, private eye, or police procedural—can be found in these pages. FEATURING: - Unscrupulous Santas - Crimes of Christmases Past and Present - Festive felonies - Deadly puddings - Misdemeanors under the mistletoe - Christmas cases for classic characters including Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Rumpole of the Bailey, Inspector Morse, Inspector Ghote, A.J. Raffles, and Nero Wolfe.

Told in rhyme, this is the charming sotry of a little green lizard that, snug in his home in a cave, witnesses the birth of the Christ childWIll lizzardi be to sleep through the wintry night? Could he be dreaming? No, it is really happening. Join Lizzardi to watch one of the greatest events in human history.

Snake and Lizard are a lovable, foolish pair, always arguing, embarking on unlikely enterprises and telling one another hotly contested tales - none of which behaviour lessens their affection for one another. A series of stories about friendship for children. Awards: Winner NEW ZEALAND POST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2008; Winner Junior Fiction Category in The New Zealand Post Children's and Young Adult awards; Storylines Notable New Zealand Junior Fiction 2008 award; LIANZA Merit Award; White Raven ; US School Library Journal starred review; North Dakota Library Association Flicker Tale Children's Book Award

Grace, a teenager, and her mother have moved to Manhattan where she feels alienated and out of place, far from the ponds and farm where she grew up playing with bullfrogs and lizards, until she finds Fang & Claw, a reptile store, and meets the owner's son, Walter.

Poor Napoleon. Despite being the spiffiest chameleon in the jungle, he has no friends. And why is that? Because no one can see him! As everyone knows, chameleons blend in with their surroundings. Napoleon is practically invisible. So he tries every trick he can think of, from waving his arms to weaving a welcome mat to making funny faces, to get the other jungle animals to see him. But it's his final trick that really gets him noticed.

It's the 12 Days of Christmas gecko-style. Geckos come bearing gifts of aloha--honking nene, bowls of chili-rice, slippers, tiki torches, and more. Only in Hawaii do these crazy geckos make the holidays more fun. Celebrate Christmas with the geckos this year and have a Mele Kalikimaka!

Holbrook the lizard has an artist's soul, but when his paintings are ridiculed by the owls, geckoes, and other creatures in his desert town, he decides to seek his fortune in the big city, unaware of the dangers of urban life.

Along with her mother and grandmother, Hana Keller has achieved renown serving tea and cakes with a European flair, but when a local professor is killed, she uncovers a serving of suspects instead… Hana Keller is getting ready for a lovely holiday season. When she receives a rare tea set as a birthday gift, she decides to host a tea at her apartment for her closest friends. During the cozy get-together, one of Hana's friends gets word that a murderer is on the loose. Hana soon learns that the victim was Sandor Balog, a professor of Hungarian Studies at the local college. With her growing psychic ability, Hana senses that she is going to be pulled into the investigation of the professor's death somehow. With her sexy boyfriend Erik on the case, Hana finds the Tea House steeped in suspects. She studies the smiling faces celebrating the season, but the real killer is good at hiding the truth and putting Hana in the hot seat….

The town psychiatrist has decided to switch everybody in Pine Cove, California, from their normal antidepressants to placebos, so naturally—well, to be accurate, artificially—business is booming at the local blues bar. Trouble is, those lonely slide-guitar notes have also attracted a colossal sea beast named Steve with, shall we say, a thing for explosive oil tanker trucks. Suddenly, morose Pine Cove turns libidinous and is hit by a mysterious crime wave, and a beleaguered constable has to fight off his own gonzo appetites to find out what's wrong and what, if anything, to do about it.