Friday Barnes, The Plot Thickens

I honestly didn’t think I would be getting any more of this series.  After the first four books were published here in America, I found no further solicits for the remaining books in the series on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any other online retailer that sold books.  Eventually, books 5 through 8 of the British version of the series showed up on Amazon, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to order imports, as the prices would be more expensive.  So, I’ve had those last four books on my Amazon watch list for quite a while.  Then, quite unexpectedly, while browsing books at Barnes & Noble recently, I stumbled across the British paperback versions of books 5 and 6 on the shelf!  Now, I am one of those readers who absolutely hates it when a publisher changes format of a series – and up until now, Friday Barnes had been published in hardback, picture-cover format with brightly colored covers.  Now, here are the rather drab, mainly-brown paperback versions of the series for books 5 and 6.  Yet, I refused to pass them up, as who knows if I would see them in store ever again.  So, after God-knows how long, I finally got to read the next chapter in the lives of Friday Barnes and her fellow classmates…

Friday Barnes, The Plot Thickens picks up right where the previous book left off. In fact, just like with the last three books, the story opens with a quick recap of the last moments from the previous book.  In this case, Friday, Ian, and Melanie are enjoying their ice cream after Friday cleared Ian’s name from the charges brought against him – when suddenly, Ian’s father, Mr. Wainwright, shows up to take his son home!  Now, I know it’s been a while, but for those keeping track, the last time we saw Mr. Wainwright, he was being carted off to jail for stealing a diamond, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer.  So how, pray tell, did he get released well before his sentence was complete?  Well, before you know it, Friday’s keen sense of observation and deductive reasoning reveals the truth behind Mr. Wainwright’s sudden interest in his son, and when the truth comes out, Ian and Friday once again become enemies, despite their clear attraction for one another (just ask Melanie!).

The author, R.A. Spratt, provides a frolicking foray into the worlds of art and fitness as Highcrest Academy gets two new teachers – a highly acclaimed artist who has no interest in teaching school and a fitness instructor who is determined to whip the over-privileged children of Highcrest into tip-top physical shape, whether they like it or not!  Plus, there’s a new student, Epstein Smythe, who proves his worth to Friday when he rescues her from drowning after she is pulled into the lake by a motorized picnic table (yeah, don’t ask – you have to read it to believe it).  The mystery this time around involves the mysterious theft of one of the art teacher’s prized paintings, as well as the vandalized art throughout the school.  Someone is up to no good (of course, at this school, other than Friday, is there anyone really up to ANY good?), and Friday is determined to get to the bottom of it.  As always, along the way, she solves a number of minor little mysteries, such as who locked Travis in the art room closet? who knocked out Friday in the classroom? did Tom really cheat in his game of golf against Stephan? who cheated Mr. Maclean out of $10,000 for a new car? who was cutting holes in the fence to sneak out each night?  Friday answers these and more questions as she tunnels through all of the distractions to find out exactly what is going on with the stolen and vandalized art.

I had forgotten just how much Spratt makes me smile with these stories of Friday Barnes, and it finally dawned on me what, exactly, it was about Friday Barnes that I find so amusing.  Friday Barnes reminds me very much of Sheldon Cooper on Big Bang Theory.  Friday is full of knowledge, and she is quick to correct others, but she has absolutely no people-skills whatsoever.  And, despite how much everyone around her hates it, she is almost always right.  And her sidekick, Melanie, reminds me of Penny from Big Bang Theory.  She is clueless to  a lot of what Friday talks about, but she goes along with her, and her mind is always on the most trivial, superficial things.  These polar opposites come together to make a humorous and unlikely pair who manage to solve every mystery put in front of them, which makes for some really great reading. 

And, of course, this book ends with yet another cliffhanger, which once again involves poor Ian, leaving him with an all-important decision to make that could affect his life in countless ways!

RATING:  8 wheels of brie cheese out of 10 for continuing the inane antics of the Highcrest Academy students and their resident girl detective, Friday Barnes.