The mystery of the squashed cockroach by R. A. Spratt
The Peski Kids series. Penguin, 2018, ISBN 9780143788812
(Ages: 8-12) Recommended. Themes: Spies. Brothers and sisters.
Country life. Missing persons. When a gun-wielding masked woman
kicks in the front door, siblings Joe, Fin and April's lives change
dramatically. Their palaeontologist mother is missing, caught at an
Eastern European border crossing with a USB hidden inside the ulna
of a stegosaurus. Professor Maynard, their mother's boss needs to
quickly move the children to safety away from the clutches of the
evil Kolectiv hit team. There's no going back when the Professor
blows up their suburban house.
Their horticulturalist father who left the family when April was a
baby lives in a tiny country town called Currawong. The quirky
townsfolk are obsessed with cockroaches, holding the annual
cockroach race. Given a new surname, the Peski kids are left with a
father they don't know, a lifestyle unfamiliar to them and a town
filled with cockroach obsessed people.
After a disastrous first day of school, except for Joe's surprising
aptitude for lawn bowls, the children decide to try and fit in.
Searching for cockroaches to enter into the race, involves breaking
into a neighbour's house with the help of a teenage whirlwind
Loretta Viswanathan. When Loretta's expensive Madagascan cockroach
is found dead in its aquarium, the Peski kids set out to solve the
mystery. When the competitors for the annual race start dying off as
well, Joe, Fin and April accompanied by Pumpkin the ankle-biting dog
become detectives searching for clues.
The mystery of the squashed cockroach captures the reader from the
prologue. Joe, April and Fin argue, bicker and generally get on each
other's nerves, however they pull together in times of crisis. Each
of their skills is needed to uncover the villain. Currawong's cast
of characters are unique and unusual adding humour to this
fast-paced adventure. R. A. Spratt's witty writing style and
fast-paced plot make this an exciting new series. Life will never be
the same, what adventures await in the next Peski Kids' adventure?
An exciting class novel for middle primary students.
Rhyllis Bignell
