Books with author Garry Parsons Gareth P. Jones

Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention. Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

Legend tells of the Clan of the Scorpion, four mighty meerkats who are armed to the teeth with ninja-know-how. They are sworn to protect the world from their longtime nemesis, the Ringmaster. Small, deadly and furry, the Ninja Meerkats are four warriors on a mission. In Book 9 in the Ninja Meerkats series, the meerkats are hot on the heels of the Ringmaster in the mysterious mountains and jungles of Peru. The Ringmaster has his sights set on a legendary palace with a magical throne, which brings power to anyone who sits on it. The meerkats must stop the Ringmaster in his tracks - but he's laid traps every step of the way...A hilarious series featuring death-defying meerkat action! Full of comical characters, daft puns, fast dialogue and even faster action, these book are irresistable to boys and girls aged around six to eight years.

Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2012 Fourteen-year-old Mariel returns to England for her grandmother's funeral. It is the first time she has been back since she emigrated with her mother as a baby, and it is the beginning of the uncovering of some really extraordinary truths about the Considine family. Why did Mariel's mum argue with Grandma all those years ago? Why does Amelia wear so much perfume? Why is there a very large cat flap in Louvre House? Why does Gerald seem scared of his brother's appetite? Did Grandma Considine really break her neck falling down the stairs? And most importantly, what is the dark secret that lies at the heart of the family?

Larkin Mills: The Birthplace of Death! Larkin Mills is no ordinary town. It's a place of contradictions and enigma, of secrets and mysteries. A place with an exquisite ice cream parlour, and an awful lot of death. An extraordinary mystery in Larkin Mills is beginning to take shape. First we meet the apparently healthy Albert Dance, although he's always been called a sickly child, and he's been booked into Larkin Mills' Hospital for Specially Ill Children. Then there's his neighbour Ivor, who observes strange goings-on, and begins his own investigations into why his uncle disappeared all those years ago. Next we meet Young Olive, who is given a battered accordion by her father, and unwittingly strikes a dreadful deal with an instrument repair man. Make sure you keep an eye on Mr Morricone, the town ice-cream seller, who has queues snaking around the block for his legendary ice cream flavours Summer Fruits Suicide and The Christmas Massacre. And Mr Milkwell, the undertaker, who has some very dodgy secrets locked up in his hearse. Because if you can piece together what all these strange folks have to do with one another . . . well, you'll have begun to unlock the dark secrets that keep the little world of Larkin Mills spinning . . .

Have you got what it takes to be the pirate captain? Find out in this side-splittingly scurvy mystery from a multi-award-winning duo! First mate Hugh has got the whole crew and the pirate ship ready, but they can't set sail until they find a captain! Come on this salty adventure as Hugh and his scurvy seadogs try to find the perfect pirate for the job. Rather than a peg leg or a hook, it turns out what their captain needs is the brains to lead!

Eddie thinks nothing ever happens in his small, boring town. Every day is exactly the same, down to what the bus driver will say when he picks each kid up in the morning. But then, one day, someone new, and very pretty, walks onto the bus. At least, Eddie thinks she’s new, but there is something oddly familiar about Scarlett. Intrigued (and smitten), Eddie starts to follow Scarlett—and what he discovers is odder still. Scarlett is a Senior Echo Time Agent from the future, come to his town to investigate the origin of time travel, which, unbeknownst to Eddie, was invented right in his hometown, by someone he knew. Soon Eddie is swept up in the investigation and in time. But time travel is a dangerous business, and Eddie will learn more than he wants to know about his long-dead mother. This psychologically rich thriller redefines the time travel novel for a teen audience.

When Dirk Dilly gets a call from Holly asking him to help her find her missing cat, he thinks that the case will be very tedious. However, soon he and the intrepid Holly are engaged in a life or death struggle in which the missing cats play only a small part. This is a case that will seriously test Dilly's detective skills as he finds himself up against some very dangerous foes!

Wanted: Dead or Alive! (Or smashed into little bits and delivered in boxes.) The Steampunk Pirates jump at the chance to earn a handsome reward in return for doing some snooping. But when they find themselves sandwiched between the Dread Captain Inky beard and a spider on the attack, it's time to beat a retreat. Can they escape without a scrape or have the robotic rebels ticked their last? This hilarious new series from Gareth P. Jones, author of Ninja Meerkats, is sure to delight young readers with its madcap humour and larger-than-life robot pirate crew.

Set off on a series of magical adventures with an adorable, modern family as the stories they read burst into colourful life. Battle dragons, meet dinosaurs, zoom to the moon and explore the world in a hot air balloon, before winding down in a wonderfully cosy bedtime ending.This is both a funny, heartfelt celebration of stories AND a brilliant way to show children all the different kinds of family there can be. The bouncy, rhyming, read-aloud text is brought to life by bestselling, award-winning illustrator Garry Parsons, illustrator of The Dinosaur that Pooped series.

Told with Gareth's signature wit, humour and thoughtfulness, this story examines the way stories shape our past, present and futureEddie is pretty certain nowhere could be more small-town, more boring, and more inconsequential than his home town of the Wellcome Valley. Unfortunately, he is about to be proved spectacularly wrong. Eddie's problems start with the arrival of Scarlett, a new girl in town who seems rather too confident and mysterious for your average schoolgirl. She attracts trouble (and Eddie) like a magnet, and she's apparently only interested in two very strange things - protecting the town's local crackpot scientist, and telling Eddie absolutely nothing about what on earth is going on. And why is she so interested in Eddie's long-dead mother? Things quickly go from weird to worse for Eddie, as he finds himself right in the middle of a dangerous mystery - one with consequences not just for him and Scarlett, but time itself.

Wanted: Dead or Alive! (Or smashed into little bits and delivered in boxes.) Causing chaos wherever they sail, the robotic Steampunk Pirates are roaming the high seas, hunting for gold! But the evil Iron Duke has other ideas… He's determined to capture the pirates in return for a handsome reward from the King. Can the mechanical marauders stay one wave ahead of their enemy? This hilarious new series from Gareth P. Jones, author of Ninja Meerkats, is sure to delight young readers with its madcap humour and larger-than-life robot pirate crew.