Atticus Claw Settles a Score

Jennifer Gray's Atticus Claw Settles a Score is a daft, fast-moving crime caper for 7 year olds starring a tabby who used to be the best cat burglar anywhere.

What happens

These days Atticus Grammaticus Cattypuss Claw is a police cat, with a shiny badge pinned to his red hanky. He's on holiday in London with the Cheddar family, and he's already miserable. They've taken him on the London Eye, and cats are NOT meant to fly.

Then he looks down at the city and remembers. London is where he learnt to be a burglar. It's also where he got his ear chewed.

The cat who chewed it is Ginger Biscuit, the toughest tomcat in the world. He belongs to Zenia Klob, a master of disguise whose hairpins are dipped in sleeping potion. Now the pair of them have broken a gang of magpies out of prison, and they're planning the biggest robbery ever.

Inspector Cheddar gets the case from Scotland Yard, which is where the fun really starts. He's a hopeless detective. He handcuffs the wrong old lady in a posh jewellery shop (she turns out to be the Police Commissioner's mother). Then he blames Atticus for everything.

Poor Atticus knows exactly what's going on and can't say it. He can only meow while the humans get it wrong. Children will love being one step ahead of the grown-ups with him.

The villains are the best bit. Klob says "vot" and "vorst", the magpies squabble like naughty brothers, and Thug the magpie is gloriously dim. Ginger Biscuit is properly nasty though, and he talks about wanting to kill. At one point he grabs a magpie by the throat until it goes limp (it's fine, the worms bring him round). It's all cartoonish, but a sensitive reader might find him a bit much.

This one follows Atticus Claw Breaks the Law and picks up straight after it. That first book shows how Atticus came to live with the Cheddars, so if you can, start there.

What to read next

If your child loves a clever animal outwitting everybody, Atticus is great company. Why not try Guinea Pigs Online next? Fuzzy and Coco are two guinea pigs in London who get up to all sorts while their owners are out at work, and one of them dreams of becoming a TV chef.