Gabriella "Gabby" Gremlin doesn't do ordinary. While her classmates hunt for trading cards, Gabby hunts for mysteries - and she's convinced her town is full of them. So when her class's first field trip of the year lands her at the local zoo, she's not thinking about the petting zoo or the gift shop. She's thinking: what's really going on here?

It starts with a missing monkey, a strange growl in the dark, and a zookeeper who won't quite meet her eyes. But Gabby's gut - and her trusty detective hat - tell her something much bigger is hiding beneath the surface. Dragging along her reluctant best friend, Eddie Nervis (a kid with a list of fears longer than his math homework), Gabby follows the clues from a suspicious snack stand all the way to a secret lab buried beneath the zoo's oldest, most forgotten exhibit.

What she uncovers is stranger than any local legend. A hidden enclosure. A hushed-up experiment. And a creature that's part monkey, part something else entirely - glowing eyes, quick shadows, and a secret the zoo will do anything to protect. Is he the monster everyone whispers about... or something else? Something that just wants to be left alone?

With a scheming zoo employee closing in, an undercover ally with secrets of his own, and a heart-stopping zipline escape standing between them and the truth, Gabby and Eddie will need every clue, every ounce of courage - and maybe a brand-new friend - before it's too late.

Fast-paced, funny, and full of heart, Gabby Gremlin and the Case of the Mysterious Monkey Man is the perfect pick for young readers who love a good mystery with plenty of laughs along the way. Packed with clever twists, a lovable odd-couple friendship, and a mystery kids won't see coming, this laugh-out-loud middle grade mystery kicks off the Gabby Gremlin series with a bang.

Grab your detective hat - the case is waiting.