Martians in Maggody — Joan Hess

For Police Chief Arly Hanks, Maggody, Arkansas, (pop. 755) is a sleepy little town where nothing ever happens--until the day UFOs, Martians, Bigfoot, and tabloid reporters descend on Maggody... and bring along a case of murder.

The summer starts out normal enough. But soon hysterical reports of strange lights, silver-headed Martians, cattle mutilations, and a hairy creature with very large feet are pouring into Arly's office. Most pesky of all, however, is the arrival of a pair of reporters from rival supermarket tabloids and two "professors" who specialize in writing books about alien phenomena. What starts out as a headache and begins to look like a panic turns serious when a dead body is found out at Boone Creek. Now Arly's got a very down-to-earth puzzle on her hands, and she suspects it's directly connected to an extraterrestrial hoax.