Friday Barnes 5: The Plot Thickens: The bestselling detective series
By (Author) R.A. Spratt
Penguin Random House Australia
Puffin
7th January 2020
Australia
Children
Fiction
FIC
Paperback
256
Width 129mm, Height 196mm, Spine 21mm
178g
Friday Barnes is being attacked on all fronts! Friday Barnes is being attacked on all fronts! When Friday Barnes gets involved in her frenemy Ian Wainscott's family dispute, it appears her knack for uncovering the truth may ruin their friendship once and for all. Highcrest Academy is no longer a fun place to be. Ian has declared war on Friday and she is thinking of leaving . . . for good. Meanwhile, there's two new teachers to contend with - a celebrity artist whose intentions are somewhat unclear, and an over-enthusiastic PE teacher on a fitness crusade. Between them and Ian, it's going to be one dangerous term. Can Friday repair her friendship with Ian, restore her perfect school-life balance and work out who is committing the blatant acts of vandalism around Highcrest No one said high school would be easy!
Praise for Under Suspicion, A Friday Barnes Mystery:
"This second book in the Friday Barnes series is even funnier and quirkier than its predecessor." School Library Journal
"Spratt's droll humor, often expressed through Friday's spacey friend Melanie, is the perfect complement to the offbeat mysteries Friday encounters . . . Give this to readers who like humor but also want more intelligent characters and jokes, as well as those who like quirky mysteries." Booklist
"Spratt continues to hit just the right mix of dry humor and suspense. Her characterization of her protagonist shines . . . Readers know that, like Sherlock Holmes, Friday will solve every mystery; the book's fun is in seeing how she does it . . . A cliffhanger ending will have readers drumming their fingers as they wait for the next episode." Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Girl Detective, A Friday Barnes Mystery:
"With off-the-wall plot turns and small mysteries scattered throughout, this is the perfect choice for mystery fans with a silly sense of humor, and the cliff-hanger ending promises more sleuthing on the horizon. Gosier's black-and-white spot illustrations add to the charming atmosphere. A sheer delight." Booklist, starred review
"Spratt's (the Nanny Piggins series) effortlessly funny narration will keep readers laughing from start to finish." Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Quirky, tongue-in-cheek . . . delightfully eccentric . . . A good choice for voracious readers who enjoy a blend of humor and mystery." School Library Journal
"Spratt begins this new series with a nifty, engaging protagonist who can keep readers laughing and help young geeks feel good about themselves . . . Delightful, highly logical, and well-informed fun." Kirkus Reviews
R.A. Spratt was born in the UK and lived in Dursley, Gloucestershire - a town immortalised by Harry Potter's deeply unpleasant relatives - until she was two years old. Then, like many ambitious English people cursed with regional accents so strong no other British person can take them seriously, her family moved to Australia. The tedium of growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney was fertiliser to the growth of R.A.'s imagination. The only thing for a kid to do was get on a bicycle and go to the library, so R.A. Spratt did just that. Once there, she read everything, devouring the books of Arthur Ransome, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, Robin Klein and Judy Blume, and audiotapes of Shakespeare productions and Sherlock Holmes dramatisations. And so, her young mind was formed, and set on the path of becoming the extraordinary author she is today. Now based in Bowral NSW, she's the bestselling writer of dozens of absurd and witty books including Friday Barnes, The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, The Peski Kids and the Shockingly and Astonishingly Good Stories collections. Her podcast, Bedtime Stories with R. A. Spratt, has had over 2 million downloads and connects R. A. with story-lovers across the globe. For more information, visit raspratt.com