Mystery Parodies

Choose an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek send-up of a classic detective tale for a tremendously entertaining summer read.

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	Cain, Chelsea Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: Nancy Drew Tells All! A Parody
Nancy Drew is real! And so are fellow detectives Frank and Joe Hardy, Judy Bolton, and Encyclopedia Brown. Together they solve mysteries through the decades beginning in the 1920s, including World War II, the red scare of the 50s, and Haight-Ashbury during the 60s.
	Elliott, Chris The Shroud of the Thwacker
Set in 1882 New York City (though including time travel), Elliott himself tracks serial killer The Thwacker. This entertaining parody features city mayor Teddy Roosevelt who sports a navel piercing, and Yoko Ono, facilitator of time travel.
	Fforde, Jasper The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
In this consistently witty criminal spin on nursery rhymes, Detective Jack Spratt, working with an ambitious young detective, Mary Mary ("Quite Contrary"), takes on the case of "fall guy" Humpty Dumpty.
	Maney, Mabel Kiss the Girls and Make Them Spy: An Original Jane Bond Parody
Jane Bond, lesbian twin sister of the indisposed James Bond, impersonates her brother when the British intelligence office calls on her to foil a plot to overthrow Queen Elizabeth II.
	Mason, Bobbie Ann Nancy Drew Remembers (A Parody) in the anthology Murder For Love
In this collection of short stories that share the theme of love and death, Nancy Drew recalls her father’s death, which leads her to explore her family’s mysterious past.
	Rankin, Robert The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse
Rife with puns and wordplay, the story takes place in a town where toys and nursery rhymes come to life: they walk, talk, eat, drink and commit heinous crimes.
	Shadows Over Baker Street Reaves, Michael and John Pelan, eds.
By writers of horror and fantasy, this collection of 20 original stories answers the question: What if the world of Sherlock Holmes, the most logical and rational detective, intersected with the world of H. P. Lovecraft, where logic and rationality have little meaning?

Updated: 5/14/2007