A Handful of Thieves — Nina Bawden

Determined to find the ex-lodger who stole his grandmother's savings, Fred McAlpine and his friends Sid, Rosie, Algy and Clio launch on a series of sleuthing activities to trace the thief. Unfortunately their detective work leads them nowhere fast and very soon they decide the best way to track a thief might just be by acting like one themselves. Resorting to cunning of their own, the children find their doings attracting the attention of the police. Can they - a handful of well-meaning thieves - find the criminal and vindicate themselves in the process? Pacy and suspenseful, A Handful of Thieves is another vivid and colourful novel from one of Britain's most inventive children's authors.