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From The Sunday Times
May 4, 2008

Children's book of the week, May 4

The Sunday Times review by Nicolette Jones

Foul Play by Tom Palmer
Age 8+

As Alex Rider is to James Bond, so Danny Harte is to Sam Spade. A 14-year-old with a passion for football, Danny aspires to be a detective and finds himself thrust into circumstances more dangerous than he anticipates on a night-time stake-out of burglars who have been targeting local electrical shops. He not only falls foul of the robbers, but witnesses something unexpected at the football stadium. The ensuing investigation helps Danny solve a high-profile mystery. As Alex uses ingenuity to extricate himself from danger, Danny uses the detective's tools of careful observation and deduction - though they cannot save him from kidnap and trigger-happy gunsels (gun-toting hoodlums). He has a bad habit of taking risks without telling his family where he is, but the book offers both excitement and wish-fulfilment beyond everyday experience: Danny meets his football hero, and ultimately gets free tickets to see England in the World Cup. Written accessibly and with a light touch, this is the kind of story to appeal to reluctant as well as established readers - and their fathers, too. The first of a “Football Detective” series, it scores with the precision of a Ronaldo free kick

Foul Play by Tom Palmer
Puffin £5.99

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