Imagine you could have a special superpower. What would you choose?Ten-year-old Tess Fullerton doesn’t believe in magic, or in the rumours that her Crooked Lane neighbour, Miss Critchley, is a witch.

So, when Miss Critchley offers her a special power as a reward for returning her lost purse, she doesn’t take it at all seriously. She chooses the power to talk to animals and listens politely as Miss Critchley warns her that she must keep it a secret, but she doesn’t expect it to happen.

However, to her amazement, Tess soon discovers that she really can talk to animals. And she has a great idea for a good way to use her power: she loves reading detective stories and has always wanted to solve crimes.

Now that she can talk to George, her ginger cat, and Tricky, a bouncy young dog friend, they can help her look for clues and spot suspicious behaviour. After taking Tricky on lots of dog walks and not finding a single sign of criminal activity, Tess begins to think there is no crime at all in her village – until she sees two shifty-looking men talking together in a very sneaky way.

She is determined to discover what they’re up to, but she doesn’t stop to think that spying on criminals could be dangerous. What will Tess do if she does find out what’s going on? She can’t tell an adult in case they find out about her secret power! But will she be able to deal with it all by herself, with just George and Tricky’s help?Find out what happens to Tess and her animal friends in Crooked Lane, the first of Tess’s exciting adventures using her talking-to-animals special power.

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