View source for Priceless! (The Skateboard Detectives) by Andrew Fusek Peters

{{infobox2
|title=Priceless! (The Skateboard Detectives)
|author=Andrew Fusek Peters
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=Light and entertaining London adventure novel hitting all the right notes in terms of tween coolness. Parkour, skateboarding and gymnastics give our junior sleuths the edge over the nasty, greasy, fat criminals.
|rating=3
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=176
|publisher=Orchard
|date=July 2008
|isbn=1846166071
|aznuk=1846166071
|aznus=1846166071
|cover=1846166071 
}}

When a world-famous Faberge egg is stolen, ex-con Danny Cooper is the immediate number one suspect. And when planted forensic evidence is found at the scene, it's all the police need to make an arrest. But Danny's going straight. He's been framed. And the Skateboard Detectives are going to prove it. San can hack into anything, Ben is a peerless free-runner, Break is superb on a skateboard and Charlie, well, might be a year younger than the others, but she's a superb athlete and Danny's daughter, so she even more determined to crack the case.

The ensuing adventure sees them plan heists and prison break outs, impersonate Russian antique specialists, meet up with master forgers and make a rather worrying acquaintance with London's sewers. And that's before we even mention the baddies.

''Priceless!'' is a light but very entertaining London adventure novel hitting all the right notes in terms of tween coolness. Parkour, skateboarding and gymnastics give our junior sleuths the edge over the nasty, greasy, fat criminals and there's barely time to take a breath, there's so much action going on. The goodies are good, the baddies are bad (and ugly) but there are one or two characters in between, preventing it from slipping into comic book territory. The chase to prove Danny's innocence is fairly straightforward but it is jolly exciting and extremely attractive. Confident readers of mid primary age will approach it as easily as the more reluctant readers in the early secondary years.

It's good stuff, if a little unchallenging.

My thanks to the nice people at Orchard for sending the book.

Fans of high octane adventure novels might also enjoy [[Thieves Like Us by Stephen Cole]].

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[[Category:Teens]]