The Case of the Disappearing Corpse is a prequel to a series of hilarious mysteries starring Chiana Ryan, an almost-13-year-old wannabe crime writer.

When a babysitter discovers a dead body in her garden, Cha decides to use all her super-sleuth talents to hunt down the murderer—and just maybe win the online crime-writing contest with her story. It's not as if there's any lack of clues.

First, there's the suspicious pink handkerchief with the letter K embroidered in the corner. Then a bent old man in a grey cardigan and baggy trousers tells Cha all about the two aliens who landed their space-mobile on the church roof. And what about the disappearing body that turns up two days later in the garden shed?

With the help of her friends, and against the firm advice of a local police officer, Cha leaps into the mystery and discovers—almost too late—there's a big difference between a storybook mystery and the real thing.