R A Spratt, In Plain Sight (Friday Barnes #13), Puffin, June 2025, 256 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761349713
In the latest instalment of what is probably a staple in most Australian school libraries, Friday Barnes finds herself on the case of a missing Princess.
In the first Friday Barnes book we were introduced to an independent, precocious tween who could deduce facts like Sherlock Holmes. Now thirteen books into the series, Friday has matured into a 15-year-old (with a boyfriend!), who is still as independently minded as her younger self. She has been tasked with investigating the disappearance of Ingrid, the Princess of Norway. Ingrid is initially thought to be kidnapped, but Friday cleverly comes to a new conclusion about what happened once it is revealed that Ingrid’s fiancé Nathanial Archibald Pelly (Binky for short), has also gone missing. After following the logical steps of deduction, Friday leads the team to New York as they try to pick up the trail of the vanishing duo.
I love that dedicated readers of this series get to see Friday grow up. It’s a clever strategy by R A Spratt to keep initial readers sticking with the series as they age alongside Friday. However, the reading level has not really advanced all that much through the series. Which means that a 9- or 10-year-old who picks up Friday Barnes for the first time could probably read the entire series from start to finish without too many problems.
Detective novels are still some of the most popular stories for young readers, and the Friday Barnes series is a great example of mystery writing that gives the reader a chance to keep up with the investigation.
Reviewed by Cherie Bell
