posted on 21 Feb 2022

A Handful of Thieves by Nina Bawden

First published in 1967 in hardback and then in 1970 by Puffin, Nina Bawden’s adventure romp has lost none of its pace or compelling storytelling power over the years and for a keen reader over the age of 10, this will be sure to keep them gripped.

Young Fred McAlpine and his friends, Sid, Rosy, Algy and Clio make up the gang they like to call the Cemetery Committee – named in honour of their meeting place, an old, dilapidated Wall of Death motorcycle venue that was kept watch over by the hapless security guard, old Puffer.

There is no-one in the world Fred loves more than his elderly grandmother and so when he and the gang discover that the deeply unpleasant new lodger she has taken in, Mr Gribble, is in fact a confidence trickster who steals all of Gran’s savings, they decide they are going to find him and get the money back.

Of course, they should have gone to the police in the first instance but Gran forbids this to avoid her embarrassment and her fear of being accused of being a daft old woman and so the children have to come up with their own cunning plan to trap the crook. The only problem with this plan is that they aren’t actually much good when it comes to tracking down criminals and when, more than by luck than judgement, they do stumble on the dreadful Gribble, they make a right mess of getting the evidence on him and make no progress at all in getting Gran’s money back again.

In fact, in the short term, they make everything a lot worse by turning to thievery themselves – and getting caught in the process! Now they not only have to convince people of Gribble’s guilt, they have to clear themselves of robbing Gribble’s fellow lodgers.

There’s plenty of action and more than one or two chases as the children, with the police in tow, try and get to Gribble before they themselves get into deeper waters. There’s plenty of jeopardy too as the least likely hero, Algy, finds himself the star of the show.

There are no big social messages here, no ‘issues’ to confront or social injustices to highlight. This is escapist storytelling at its best and all the better for that in my view – every reader, whatever their age, wants to get away from bleak reality now and then and let a skilful writer take you into a world of cops, robbers, heroes and villains where good ultimately triumphs and the baddie gets his or her comeuppance.

The most recent paperback reprint I can find dates to the early 1990s – so I’m not sure if this books is currently in print and available to order from your local bookshop. Second hand copies are plentiful however and you’ll pay well under £10 for a good copy.

 

Terry Potter

February 2022