The setting is an unidentified country, suffering from an unexpected outbreak of very large holes. The McNally children find themselves in The Dell Hotel surrounded by a strange assortment of ridiculous characters ranging from Charlie 'Twinkle Toes' Tweedy, the house detective, to Mr Peach, a ventriloquist with a conveniently large moustache. With young Fergal McNally falling to his death on page one, the only way for the McNallys is up. . . . Expect the unexpected with Philip Ardagh pulling out all the stops. Makes his fiction so unique and so absurd.

Author Biography

Over two metres tall, with a bushy beard, Philip Ardagh is not only very hairy but has also written over sixty books for all ages. He is extremely versatile with many talents. Not only is he very knowledgeable about serious subjects but he also writes very funny books that make lots of people laugh. His best-selling Eddie Dickens trilogy started with Awful End, continued with Dreadful Acts and is soon to be topped off by Terrible Times. 'A cross between Dickens and Monty Python' (Guardian) is just one of the many plaudits this series of books has received. Unlikely Exploits is another series, the first one of which is called The Fall of Fergal with Heir of Mystery following that. He also writes expertly compiled and researched non-fiction, The Archaeologist's Handbook, Why Are Castles Castle-Shaped?, Did Dinosaurs Snore? and The Hieroglyphs Handbook.