Wowsers. Yeah, sounds near enough something Ruby Redfort would say…Ruby Redfort…what a character! I tell you, Lauren Child has done it again. As previously mentioned in a review on the site, this book was first talked about in another Lauren Child series, Clarice Bean as her favourite books. And now we know why.

Lauren Child deserves all the awards that have been showered on her, and more!

Ruby Redfort, our young detective is the daughter of a "rich, dumb and beautiful" couple who are some of the sweetest parents in the world but as thick as bricks. Ruby is living a perfectly normal life (well, not counting that she is a child prodigy in codes and pretty smart and savvy otherwise) so it comes as a huge shock when her beloved housekeeper, Mrs Digby goes missing. Her parents assume she is taking a holiday…but Ruby is not so sure. Let me just add, without wanting to give anything away, that Mrs Digby is a pretty hilarious character in herself. Her character is portrayed with such style on Lauren Child's behalf that you can't help laughing at some of her scenes… or feeling pity for the grown men she tells off!

But back to the plot: and Mrs Digby's replacement is a handsome man called Hitch. And Ruby is convinced that this suave, charming Hitch has a secret. And because Ruby is that kind of girl, and she is adventurous, curious…oh, dear…did you spot the cliché? But otherwise this bit is wonderful. Ruby starts investigating, but before she can get far, she becomes an agent herself.

No, please don't stop reading! It's not like it looks (ok, reads)! Really, I trusted Lauren Child to turn this embarrassingly superficial situation into one of her classically good moments and I was right. Even this is one of the best parts of the story, about which I have already given too much away.

Just read it. I'm not going to say anymore but if you do read it then most of you will understand why. It's not perfect, in fact there are a lot of painstakingly cliché bits but overall it is one fabulous story!

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