Ghost in the Closet: A Nancy Clue and Hardly Boys Mystery (Maney, Mabel)

With their fearless crime-fighting, good manners, and manly fashion sense, the Hardly boys are the pride of Feyport, Illinois. In A Ghost in the Closet, dark-haired, muscular Frank and his lovable kid brother Joe return from a gay trip to Europe to find that their parents — world-famous detective Fennel P. Hardly and his wife, Mrs. Hardly — have been kidnapped! Even worse, so have six poodles from the Lake Merrimen Dog Show! Pals Nancy Clue, Cherry Aimless, R.N., and Police Detective Jackie Jones help the Hardly boys track down the criminals — and in the meantime, pick up useful tips on fingerprinting, evidence retrieval, and the laundering of sporty twill slacks.

Like her beloved camp classics, The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse and The Case of the Good-For-Nothing Girlfriend, Mabel Maney’s A Ghost in the Closet brilliantly parodies 1950s boys and girls adventure series. Pull on a casual rayon shirt and join the queer caper!