Herculeah’s parents are a police officer (her father) and a private investigator (her mother).  They are divorced (partly because of their professional quarrels – the father didn’t approve of the mother being a private detective), and Herculeah lives with her mother, but she sees her father regularly.  Because of her parents’ professions, Herculeah has a strong interest in mysteries and investigations and has talents in those directions.  Her parents try to keep her out of their work, but sometimes, cases just land in Herculeah’s lap.  Unlike many other (especially older, vintage) children’s mystery series, Herculeah investigates murder cases.  She sees dead bodies, but none of the murders are graphically described.

Her friend, “Meat” (his real name is Albert, but he’s pretty large, overweight), accompanies her on her investigations.  The two kids are in their early teens.  Meat has a mystery of his own which is a subplot in some of the books and eventually gets solved during the course of the series.  When the series begins, Meat doesn’t know who his father is.  Even though Herculeah’s parents are divorced, he is sometimes jealous of her for knowing her father and being able to spend time with him.  Meat’s parents separated when he was very young, and he has no memory of his father.  His mother refuses to answer questions about him and tries to discourage him from finding out.  Eventually, Herculeah manages to learn his father’s identity, and Meat gets to meet him.

Herculeah got her unusual name because her mother was watching an old Hercules movie shortly before she was born.  She is also convinced that her hair frizzes up when there’s danger.  When cases are over, she and Meat talk things over and relate some of the cases to the Labors of Hercules from Greek mythology.

The series was ritten by Betsy Byars, who is also the author of the Bingo Brown books and many others.

Books in the Series:

The Dark Stairs (1994)

There is an old, abandoned mansion in Herculeah’s town called Twin Oaks, although many people like to call it “Dead Oaks.”  The mansion’s owner disappeared years ago.  However, someone is now showing unusual interest in the old mansion, and Herculeah wants to know why.

Tarot Says Beware (1995)

Madame Rosa, a fortune teller, lives in Herculeah’s neighborhood.  Sometimes, Herculeah takes care of her pet parrot, Tarot.  When Herculeah finds Madame Rosa dead, she tries to find out who killed her.

Dead Letter (1996)

Herculeah gets a secondhand coat and discovers a note hidden in the lining that indicates that something sinister happened to the former owner.

Death’s Door (1997)

Someone tries to kill Meat, and it looks like a deadly case of mistaken identity.

Disappearing Acts (1998)

Meat signs up for a comedy class at a local club, and no one believes him at first when he says that he’s found a dead body in the bathroom on April 1st.  This is the book where Herculeah discovers who Meat’s father is.

King of Murder (2006)

A mystery author bases his book on a local unsolved murder, and Herculeah suspects that he knows too much about the case not to be involved with it.

The Black Tower (2006)

Herculeah has been visiting an elderly man who has had a stroke in order to read to him.  The man can only communicate by blinking, and he seems to be trying to hint to Herculeah that something sinister occurred in the tower of his old mansion.