Callie and Grace are two thirds of S.P.U.D. – Super Perceptive Undercover Detectives – and they are very excited about having an epic Easter holiday sleepover for six whole days! Callie’s Mynah bird Bo makes up the trio of amateur sleuths.

When Callie had her ‘slugs’ (hearing aids) in the first book of the series, she discovered that they meant that she could understand Bo and is the only human to be able to communicate fully with him. Bo is the secret weapon of SPUD as he is their spy in the sky and is able to report his findings to Callie so that she and her best friend Grace are better equipped to solve crimes and mysteries.

During their Easter break, Callie’s mum and dad take them on a family trip to the local wildlife park. Much to Mum’s dismay, they attend the Tarantula Talk and learn all about Peaches the tarantula. Mum is feeling a little bit freaked out by all of this talk of spiders so imagine how she feels when Callie spots a broken jar containing three baby tarantulas in the picnic area? What kind of terrible person would abandon their unwanted pets in such a way? More importantly, can S.P.U.D. locate the missing mother of these tiny spiderlings before the temperature drops below 12 degrees and she dies from the cold?

This fun and well written adventure is great entertainment for children age 7-9 and reluctant readers alike. We really enjoyed the light-hearted mystery and thought that the relationship between Callie, Bo and Grace was a joy to read. We hadn’t read the other books in the series until we read a copy of this but we have since got hold of book one and the children love it.

Thank you to Net Galley and Firefly Press for sending this eBook for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

What a super story. This is perfect for children moving on to longer books because the pictures are superb and help with the understanding, but also leave enough for you to use your imagination. I haven't read the others I'm the series but I understood the connection with Bo quickly. It's nice to see disability represented in a positive way; there's no bullying element or anyone saying she can't do something because of it, she just does life and gets on. A super story and well worth a read.

The plot

This is book 3 in the series, and every bit as fun and adventuresome as the others, possibly more so. To recap, Callie is our main protagonist. She discovered that her new hearing aids allowed her to understand and speak to Bo, a Mynah bird they adopted in Book 1. Callie and her best pal, Grace, are the two 9-year-old girls in a detective team that includes Bo. They are collectively called S.P.U.D. (Super Perceptive Undercover Detectives).

It is the school holidays, and a funfair has come to the village, but the kids, including Callie's younger brother, Luke, aren't allowed to go until the weekend when Callie's older cousin comes with his family. That leaves a whole week of going out with their mum and dad, with whom Grace is staying, and doing boring adult things like going to the D.I.Y. store or buying car tyres. I think we can all relate to that in one way or another!

So, having their own airborne assistant/spy in the sky, the girls send Bo off to reconnoitre the fun fair and spot the best rides. But Bo seems to be taking far too long and the girls are getting worried. When Bo finally returns, he is rather coy as to where and what he's been up to. he gets downright evasive as the week goes on, and he seems very sleepy and off his food, too.

Eventually, after being asked countless times by the kids if they can go to the fair and having to turn them down, they offer to take them somewhere else as a stopgap trip. The kids ultimately settle on going to a wildlife park. Callie's parents have a dislike for snakes and spiders, and they are not keen on going. But a promise is a promise.

At the zoo, the girls learn about the tarantula, and Luke gets to see the snakes.
On leaving the spider presentation given by one of the keepers, the girls spot a giant spider, a tarantula, heading off into the hedge...

OK, what happens next really brings the story into top gear. So, that is where I must leave it. If you want to know the answer to what happens to the fearsome female spider – a bird-eating tarantula at that – what Bo has been up to, and how all the subplots mesh and come to a spooky conclusion, you'll just have to get the book. I assure you the best, scariest and funniest is still to come!

So, what did we think?

We loved every minute of this book. There was always something happening which made it a real page-turner. Karen has ably combined the anticipation and thrill of the fun fair with the excitement and tension of an escaped tarantula and the ensuing investigation, chase and capture. There is also a mystery to unravel about where Bo went and what he was doing. As I was saying, never a dull moment.

The parent's reactions are, as in real life, priceless. Couple this with the fact that fun and interesting facts about spiders are revealed along the way, and thoroughly engaging artwork makes this a sound, safe and enjoyable read for children of all ages.

So . . . . Crunch time.

Yes, buy this as an excellent way to pass a rainy day, to read aloud or alone, or as part of a broader classroom activity.

Thank you so much to Firefly Press and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

It’s the school holidays and Grace is staying over, a funfair is in town but they have to wait for Callie’s cousin Dylan to arrive at the weekend. After days of nothing fun Callie’s parents take them to a wildlife reserve. They spot a loose tarantula and three baby spiderlings abandoned but the mother tarantula has escaped and they must find her soon before it’s too late.

I’m not a spider fan at all, but this was really fascinating learning about this giant tarantula, I really liked that with the added mystery of what happened to her we also had the facts about her too. I enjoyed the way we found out the answers in the end that was so unexpected.

The Bo mystery was more obvious but also was really super funny, he’s always up to something and this time with a lady bird friend he was really up to mischief. So much fun. I really enjoyed this whole story, with the two really interesting mysteries it was a lot of fun.

I always love following along with Grace and Callie as they solve more SPUD mysteries. The illustrations also as always are amazing it’s always so much fun seeing everything you are reading be real and this illustrator always does an incredible job and I love taking time to look at them all.

If you love a fun mystery then I highly recommend this book to you, and the others in this series they are so much fun, real easy reads, the mysteries are always unique and you’ll enjoy them from start to finish.