12-year-old Jordan Warden isn't happy. He has rich, uncaring parents and is virtually a prisoner in the huge family mansion, Thattlebee Hall. Worst of all though, is his granny. Not only is she physically repulsive, she's horribly mean. Even so Joe is shocked by the malicious gleam in her eye as she gives him a Christmas present fit for a two-year-old. It's the look of a predatory crocodile, and Joe starts to suspect that Granny has unpleasant designs on him. But what are they and how can he foil them? All is revealed in this story.