Friday Fun Reads: Investigations Turn Silly with Howard Wallace, P.I., on the Case

I love reading mysteries. I’m also a great fan of clean, witty humor writers. I’m working on a writing project to combine both of those genres to take readers on silly and puzzling adventures. We’ll talk more about those ideas down the road.

Today, let me introduce you to Howard Wallace, P.I., by Casey Lyall. It’s the first book in a series that does just that—combines perplexing mysteries with zany situations.

I tumbled onto twelve-year-old detective Howard Wallace while researching silly investigators. (Don’t tell Howard I used the word “silly.” He’s totally serious about his job, right down to the old, brown bathrobe he wears in place of a spy trench coat and his ride, Big Blue, a “two-wheeled Franken-bike held together with duct tape, twine, and baseball cards.”)

I quickly became a fan of Wallace Investigations, er, I mean, of Howard Wallace AND Ivy Mason, the pesky kid with the agile brain who wormed her way into a partnership in the middle school detective agency.

Howard’s good. Between sticks of Juicy Smash gum, he tracks down a stolen school trumpet to a shady pawn shop, and spies through vents in a door to discover who’s been leaving anonymous gifts in a girl’s locker.

Everything he learned about the business he picked up from watching old black-and-white movie detectives like Sam Spade, and Nick and Nora Charles. He used that research to draft his twelve Rules of Private Investigations, including No. 6, “A bad plan is better than no plan,” (to which Ivy says, “I think we need to revisit this rule”) and No. 9, “Don’t Get Caught” (to which Ivy says, “You should try following this rule, Howard”).

But can the rules, even with Ivy’s assistance, help Howard crack the baffling blackmail case of who’s holding the student council checkbook for ransom? Howard’s determined to figure it out, even if it means busting Mr. Vannick, the reluctant student council adviser, as the blackmailer. (Spoiler alert: That didn’t turn out well.)

Along the way, Howard learns that while being a loner gives a kid more control over his own case files, having a partner—who might even be just as smart as he is (or smarter)—can make the difference on whether a mystery gets solved.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and already picked up the next two in the series. I need to finish writing this review so I can get back to my own fun research project of checking out Mason and Wallace Investigations. Or is it Wallace and Mason Investigations?

A quick note: The Howard Wallace series was written for the secular market, not faith-based readers. While these books are clean, there are instances of disobeying parents and lying for the good of solving the case. But Howard discovers that there are serious consequences to pay for disobedience and lying, even when it’s in the name of justice.

That said, I heartily recommend Howard Wallace, P.I. At least until I can make the announcement I hope to make soon on my own project. For now, that shall remain a mystery.