Nature Mysteries

Edgar Allan Poe proposed that “the boundary line between instinct and reason is of a very shadowy nature” (1840). With its 21 stories of serial killers and sociopaths, fixations and fetishes, breakdowns and bad decisions crafted by authors as diverse as their writing styles, Shadowy Natures leads fans of psychological horror down dark and treacherous roads to destinations they will be too unsettled to leave.

When those two enthusiastic fishermen, Djuna and his friend, Tommy, are offered a chance to spend the summer at fish-filled Silver Lake as the guests of Miss Annie Ellery, they are overjoyed. But great as the fishing proves to be, there is more in store: Silver Lake holds a mystery, and the boys find themselves swept up in a series of exciting and dangerous adventures, including an abandoned icehouse and two fires, as they help to solve it.

Three irritable curmudgeons, each successful in their respective fields, find themselves thrown together on a comically arduous journey - all at the behest of a mysterious host. Arriving at their destination, the three men find their cantankerous hearts melting in the presence of a newborn infant.

Inspector Alvarez is in a good mood, for once. The sun is shining, he has enjoyed an uniterrupted morning nap at his desk, his irasciable boss - Superios Chief Salas - is on holiday, and the local Mallorquin government’s proposal to increase tax on alcohol has been soundly defeated. But optimism, he soon has cause to reflect, is the road to disaster. In short order, he provokes the ire of Salas’ secretary and then of Salas himself - whose holiday does not seem to exclude phoning Alvarez to complain about his work. In no time at all, Alxvarez is mired down by a seemingly impossible task....

Brave, clever and never more than a whisker away from adventure! When the museum’s visitors are gone for the day, it’s time for the cats to come out to play. The kittens can’t wait to welcome a group of schoolchildren to the museum’s first ever sleepover! Especially Bianca, who loves people fussing over her. So when Bianca goes missing after a squabble with the other kittens, they worry that she has run away with the children. But the rats have been sniffing around the sleepover too. Could the kittens’ old enemies be behind Bianca’s disappearance?

Eva has always wanted to be a journalist, so when she finds a stray dog outside her home, she might just have found her first case. Can she, along with her best friends at the Newshound newspaper, Simone and Ash, find Wafer’s real owner? As the trail leads from one dead end to another, Eva realises that she might not want to get to the bottom of the mystery after all – because won’t that just mean she just has to give Wafer back?

Setterpoo Sammy has a brilliant sense of smell. She can sniff out anything – watches, explosives, even parrots! But one day, Sammy sniffs some extra-hot chilli powder and loses her sense of smell completely. It’s up to Sammy’s Best Human Friend, Beanie, to help her get it back. And when Sammy finds out that someone is planning to steal a precious diamond, she’ll have to use all her instincts to save the day!

Lake Monsters: Strange Encounters offers bone-chilling tales of human survival and death with mysterious creatures of the deep, murky freshwater of North America. These are true, frightening encounters with unimaginable and elusive freshwater cryptids. From the Great Lakes to pristine backyard swimming pools, the next time you stare into the depths, you’ll remember the fantastic and horrifying cryptids that lurk below the surface. Dive in if you dare.

Cam Jansen has a special talent. Whenever she closes her eyes and says "click", she can call up a perfect picture in her mind of anything she has ever seen. This is very useful when she plays Geography with her best friend Eric - and also when she’s solving mysteries. When Cam and her family meet Aunt Molly at the Royal Hotel, the last thing they have planned for their day is a mystery. But then they meet Mrs. Wright, who gave her luggage and her cat to a bellhop while she checked in, but now can’t find them. Can Cam’s photographic memory help solve the mystery?

The Great Zoodini—aka Radar the fennec fox—has never fit in. In fact, his only friend is a stuffed rabbit. Ever since his first family abandoned him, he’s had one goal: become world famous and show everyone how wrong they were about him. But no matter how many daring escapes Zoodini’s tried, he’s never even made the Association of Animal-Themed Attractions newsletter.

Being a brilliant 10-year-old in a competitive eighth grade honors class is a minute-by-minute challenge. Outside school, more challenges abound. When Jack the polar bear’s regular zookeeper is the victim of a mysterious hit-and-run accident, Super Sleuths Sophia and Pedro find themselves investigating his replacement. A replacement whom Jack and the seals fear and distrust.

Bert the Dog and the Mystery Spill is a classic children's who-done-it story. Bert the dog is loving his life with the boy Devon until his world is rocked when mom ruins all the fun. Follow Bert's mysterious journey to uncover the truth.

Die Knallharten Tauben sind rund um die Uhr im Einsatz, um die Stadt und ihre Bewohner gegen alle Gefahren zu verteidigen. Denn das Böse schläft nie! Von einem ziemlich gruseligen Geier werden sie mit einem neuen Fall beauftragt: Jemand hat doch tatsächlich das schöne Geiernest geklaut! Als den Tauben dann auch noch ein Menschenkind zuläuft und Bringers Familie entführt wird, ist das Chaos perfekt. Dabei wollen die Pickel – äh – PICKER doch einfach nur mal in Ruhe ihre Brotkrümel futtern...

There once was a dog with a keen sense of smell. She was known far and wide as Detective Dog Nell. Peter's dog, Nell, has an amazing sense of smell. Whether it's finding a lost shoe or discovering who did a poo on the new gravel path, her ever-sniffing nose is always hard at work. But Nell has other talents, too. Every Monday she goes to school with Peter and listens to children read. So who better to have on hand when they arrive one morning to discover that the school's books have all disappeared?

If the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. Moss grows only on the north side of a tree. No two snowflakes are alike. You may have heard these common sayings or beliefs before. But are they really true? Can they be proven using science? Let's investigate 17 statements about Earth, weather, and the environment and find out which ones are right, which ones are wrong, and which ones still stump scientists! Find out whether all deserts are hot!

Two girls survive a terrible flood in the Tasmanian bush and are rescued by a pair of Tasmanian tigers who raise them in the wild. Their story of survival is remarkable, as they adapt to the life of the tiger, learning to hunt and to communicate without the use of human language. When they are discovered and returned to civilization, neither can adapt to being fully human after their extraordinary experience. Totally believable, their story will both shock and captivate listeners as it explores the animal instincts that lie beneath our civilized veneer.

Splat the Cat notices that something isn't quite right in his house. First his father's duck decoys start to go missing. Then they are mysteriously returned but, strangely enough, without their beaks! Who could possibly be causing all of this trouble? To solve the mystery, Splat musters up his courage and rises to the challenge as Secret Agent Splat. This wacky cat-and-mouse story from best-selling author and illustrator Rob Scotton will have readers laughing from beginning to end.

In a new adventure, it's Christmas in Strawberry Park, and the guinea pigs are decorating the hutch and rocking around their broccoli Christmas tree. But when Henrietta's mother is called to investigate the mystery of missing Inca gold, the furry friends find themselves on their way to...Peru!

In this story, Lass has a bad day. Her friends don't want to play with her, and she feels so sad and lonely. Things get even worse when she encounters a stranger. But her bad day does have a bright spot--you'll see. The wonderfully-crafted story is paired with playful examples that help children discover the world around them.

Ottoline is back in Ottoline and the Purple Fox, a brand-new adventure from Children's Laureate Chris Riddell. Ottoline and Mr Munroe love puzzles, clues and mysteries. One day they meet an enigmatic purple fox who offers to take them on a nighttime urban safari. The fox shows them all the hidden animals of the city, and Ottoline makes notes on them in her field notebook. Mr Munroe is making notes, too - on the anonymous poems he finds stuck to lampposts on their journey. Who is the secretive poet, and how can he and Ottoline help them mend their broken heart?