Just So Stories

Penguin Australia

• June 2025
• ISBN: 9781761349713
• Imprint: Puffin
• RRP: $16.99

It was quite synchronistic to get #13 Friday Barnes arriving on Friday 13th, I thought! And, needless to say, I promptly gobbled it up over two nights with much snickering and snort laughing [No R. A. Spratt is ever read without the snaughling!].

The Friday romp continues with our intrepid but ‘special’ detective, accompanied by her faithful quirky friend and sidekick, Melanie, getting hot on the trail of the presumably kidnapped Ingrid, their mutual friend, who also happens to be the Princess of Sweden as well as Melanie’s brother’s girlfriend.

The Princess’ personal bodyguard is in disgrace, blamed by the King for the young woman’s disappearance and, in spite of his antipathy to Friday, enlists her help to track down the missing royal.

As we have come to expect, Friday cuts through the waffle and confusion to go straight to the heart of the matter, and the pair of friends are able to track Ingrid, and Binky, to New York – the city that never sleeps [I’m by no means a seasoned o/s traveller but a top tip for you is do not think that the Macca’s toilets in NY will be like those here i.e. super clean 🤮].

Of course they find the errant couple, now married and blissfully enjoying an escapist honeymoon in a tiny shabby NYC apartment with Binky working as an underwear model and Ingrid volunteering at the Morgan library.There was no kidnapping, just a very cleverly organised elopement.

Successfully sleuthing the runaway newlyweds is one coup but, of course, there’s more to come. Strange things are happening at the Morgan library – some fairly innocent but, as it turns out, some definitely not so innocent. The culprit is possibly the most unlikely perpetrator in a Friday Barnes investigation yet!

As always, it’s a whole bunch of fun with Friday’s awkwardness, especially as she and erstwhile nemesis, Ian, are now an odd couple (underline odd really), Melanie’s refreshing lack of filter and her uncanny sense of truth and deception, some completely whacky new characters in the mix and a crime that’s almost not a crime. Leave it to Friday to cut straight to the spark of the smokescreen every time.

There’s a lot of sensitivity and emotional understanding threaded through this one as well as the usual levity. Friendship, loyalty, compassion are all so important – arguably, even more so in these parlous times.

Your FB devotees will eat it up and still be wanting more – I don’t think any of us will ever get tired of Friday fun [are you listening R. A.??]. Of course, it’s a 5 🤎🔍🕵️‍♀️🔍🤎 rating for another fabulous Friday romp!