The Malted Falcon
Chet Gecko Mystery No. 7

Published: 2003

It was tall, dark, and chocolatey – the stuff dreams are made of. It was a treat so titanic that nobody had been able to finish one single-handedly (or even single-mouthedly). It was the Malted Falcon.

How far would you go for the ultimate dessert? Somebody went too far, and that’s where I came in.

The local sweets shop held a contest. The prize: A year’s supply of free Malted Falcons. Some lucky kid scored the winning ticket. She brought it in for Show-and-Tell. But after she showed it, somebody swiped it. And no one would tell where it went.

Following a strong hunch and an even stronger sweet tooth, I tracked the ticket through a web of lies more tangled than a rattlesnake doing the rhumba. But the time to claim the prize was fast approaching. Would the villain get the sweet treat, or his just desserts?