This is the fourth book in the Wings & Co. Series by Sally Gardner and each book in the series so far has been better than the last one. This is no exception. In case you haven't read any of the others, Wings & Co. is a fairy detective agency located in the town of Podgy Bottom! The detective agency is run by Emily Vole, a nine year old girl, who has been appointed "Keeper of the Keys" by the late Mrs String. She is assisted by Buster Ignacious Spicer, a boy fairy; Fidget, a human sized cat with a taste for fish cakes; Doughnut, a small sausage dog and a magic lamp who wears Moroccan slippers!
The book starts with a mysterious man coming into a car showroom, getting out a water pistol, squirting it on a red 1957 Ford Thunderbird Convertible and shrinking it sufficiently so that he could put it into a matchbox. Soon there have been cases reported of all sorts of motor vehicles being shrunk in front of their owners' eyes by a mysterious man.
Buster reads a report about the incidents in "The Podgy Bottom Evening Star" and the detectives suspect fairy meddling and so begin to investigate. Soon they hear about a large purple bunny rabbit who has stolen a pair of robotic chicken legs from a toy store and they suspect it may be Harpella (an evil witch who was turned into a rabbit by the magic lamp in book one "Operation Bunny"). Additionally, robberies have been taking place led by a magical broomstick and they suspect this may be Harpella's lost broomstick - if she finds it before the detectives the consequences could be fatal!
Sally Gardner is one of my favourite writers because she uses her imagination to create unique, interesting characters but she also gives them lots of personality so you believe they are real. Her plots are interesting and fun but are structured just like a normal detective novel so you forget that the heroes are talking cats, dogs and lamps. I love the catchphrases that she gives to her characters and sometimes find myself saying "Spot on the fish cake" just like Fidget. In conclusion, this is a brilliant book in an excellent series, I would recommend it for boys and girls from 8 upwards, but teachers or parents could read it aloud to even younger children. I hope Sally Gardner will write more in this series.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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