Day of the Living Pizza

By Vickie Johnstone

A Smarts & Dewdrop Mystery, book 1.

Detective Smarts of Crazy Name Town has a problem. Doctor Boring and his receptionist have been bumped off, and the only clues at the scene are some olives, tomatoes, mushrooms and a sprinkle of oregano. With the townsfolk dropping like flies and strange-looking figures stumbling down the streets mumbling "Pizza!", Officer Dewdrop has an idea.

Juvenile fiction/YA/age 10+

This story is contained in The Gage Project book, published by Inknbeans Press, which is raising money for children's charities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vickie Johnstone
• Release date: Nov 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301567690

Vickie Johnstone

Vickie Johnstone lives in the UK. She has a thing about fluffy cats and also loves reading, writing, films, the sea, art, nature, white chocolate and travelling. Vickie has self-published 23 books since 2011.- Books published in 2011:Kaleidoscope (March) – 119 poems, divided by chapter themes;Travelling Light – a free book of 44 poems;Kiwi in Cat City – the first in a series about a magical cat and her human pals (April);Kiwi and the Missing Magic (June);Kiwi and the Living Nightmare (October).The Kiwi books have illustrations by Nikki McBroom.- Books published in 2012:Day of the Living Pizza – a comedy horror for ages 10 up (May);Life’s Rhythms – 316 haiku (June);3 Heads and a Tail – a romantic comedy with a dog as the hero (June);Kiwi and the Serpent of the Isle (August);Day of the Pesky Shadow (October);Kiwi in the Realm of Ra (November); andKiwi's Christmas Tail (December).- Books published in 2013:The Sea Inside – a fantasy adventure (May); andI Dream of Zombies – a horror set in London in 2013 with a heroine (October).- Books published in 2014:Haven (I Dream of Zombies, 2) (May).- Books published in 2015:Mind-spinning Rainbows – 45 haiku and 109 poems (April).- Books published in 2021:A Poem a Day – 446 poems (July).- Books published in 2023:Tirips Shade – Ghost Detective (April).Ink – poetry (May)Woman – poetry (May)- Books published in 2024:Between the Sky and the Sea – poetry (February)Murals (March)Colouring the Edges (March)Links:Blog: http://vickiejohnstone.blogspot.comTwitter: @vickiejohnstoneWebsite: Kiwiincatcity.comMerchandise: www.zazzle.co.uk/kiwiincatcityFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorVickieJohnstonehttp://www.facebook.com/KiwiinCatCityhttp://www.facebook.com/KaleidoscopePoetryHappy reading and writing :)

Book preview

Day of the Living Pizza

A zombie story to sink your teeth into

By Vickie Johnstone

Day of the Living Pizza

Copyright January 2012, Vickie Johnstone

Published by Inknbeans Press as part of The Gage Project children’s charity book in April 2012, and separately in ebook format in June 2012

This edition republished November 2012

All rights reserved

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords License Statement:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover image: Jennifer Bastow

Acknowledgements

This story was written for Gage Bailey, who was to undergo a scary operation, as part of a book called The Gage Project. His favourite things include a zombie TV series, rock music and chicken, so all of these things fell into the story.

The Gage Project book of stories, jokes and poetry for younger readers is available in paperback, with all royalties being donated to children’s charities, primarily Ronald McDonald House.

It is published by Inknbeans Press.

Other tales for younger readers

Kiwi in Cat City (book 1)

Kiwi and the Missing Magic (book 2)

Kiwi and the Living Nightmare (book 3)

Kiwi and the Serpent of the Isle (book 4)

Kiwi in the Realm of Ra (book 5)

Day of the Pesky Shadow

Other titles are available for adults.

Chapter 1

Can I have a large, deep-pan pizza with chicken, bacon, peppers, mushroom and olives... well just a few olives?

Sure, replied the pizza delivery guy. Hold on... we’re out of chicken. Do you want a different topping instead?

Ahhh, sighed Andy. Chicken was his favourite. He always had chicken. Should he ring his old, usual pizza company? But then he’d heard that this new place served the best pizza in Crazy Name Town, and he was really hungry. He smiled to himself. He’d take a chance. Ok, can I have pepperoni instead and no bacon. I don’t think they go together.

Sure. Sorry about that. Your pizza will arrive in about 45 minutes. Thanks for your order. Bye.

The line went dead. Bye, mumbled Andy, and put his mobile phone into his pocket. Now it was time to dig out a good DVD to watch. But, first things first. With a grin, he opened the fridge and took out a beer. Leaning against the door, he clicked open the can

Reviews for Day of the Living Pizza

[uvi_poznansky · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With the crusty, irregular surface of pizza, and its various toppings—olives, tomatoes, mushrooms and a sprinkle of oregano—I wonder how come no one before has come up with this notion, the crazy notion of a murder mystery bubbling with humor, with Pizza and Pepperoni People who are zombies. I find it so wonderful that the author, Vickie Johnstone (whose poetry I love) fashioned this particular story for a particular young reader, 14 year old Gage, and for the particular taste—no pun intended—of that reader. It shows such care and the result is delightful for all of us.The story is fast-paced, constructed in brisk chapters, full of entertaining action in every one of its munchy twists and turns, and features delightful dialog. I think you would imagine yourself playing different roles, as the dialog brings it is as close as you get to a play.Five stars.