THE CHAMELEON WORE CHARTREUSE

Meet Chet Gecko, fourth grade gumshoe: a private eye with a nose for trouble, a taste for stinkbug pie, and a detachable tail—all of which come into play in this hardboiled series kickoff. The trail to Shirley Chameleon's missing little brother, Jimmy, leads past Old Toady, first grade teacher with a Jell-o addiction, the Rat sisters Rizzo and Nadine, coach `Beef` Stroganoff, and worst of all, huge Herman the Gila Monster, booted off the football team for biting a referee. Along the way, Chet picks up plenty of clues and red herrings, bad jokes (`What do you get when you cross a duck with a trash collector?` `Down in the dumps.`) and a partner, multitalented mockingbird, Natalie Attired. In Hale's black and white illustrations, the motley assortment of tough-looking animals in school clothes will draw as many giggles as Chet's clipped narrative. The tale unwinds to a suitably chaotic climax involving narrow escapes, a football full of garbage and an invasion of yummy (to Chet) giant cockroaches. Here's a worthy successor to Cathy Stefanec-Ogren's Sly, P.I., (not reviewed), and a host of other scaled, furred or feathered sleuths. (Mail and on-line promos, author website, gecko costume available) (Fiction. 911)