The espionage and intrigue surrounding the Mr Is School for Spies has been solved in the latest tale by Ashburton author, Rachel Booth.
The Eagle Has Landed is the fourth, and final book, in the spy series first drafted by Booth about 20 years ago.
It answers all the questions main character, Jo, has sought since the first book, Booth said.
In the series, Jo, age 13, is following in her late mother’s footsteps; a secret agent who died in a car accident.
The series, which spans a timeline of one year, follows Jo, and her new friends, in training as a spy at the school.
In the latest edition, Jo receives a file from the mysterious Agent X.
It raises more questions, but Jo must solve the clues left behind by her mother to find the top secret information she hid before she died.
Booth said the series grew from a passion to play spies she developed while a pupil at Papatoetoe Intermediate School in Auckland.
The first book, Jo’s Spy School Jitters, was printed in 2013, the second, Katie’s Clever Trick, in 2015 and the third, Spy School Drama, in 2023. It’s suited to readers in the 10-to-14-year age group.
Booth, now age 42, writes under her maiden name. She is married to children’s librarian Jonathan Nixon. The couple have two young children.
Booth has an education degree, a postgraduate diploma in secondary teaching, has worked in libraries, and completed writing and self-publishing courses. And under her married name, Rachel Nixon, she also does professional editor and proofreading services.
She said she was still intrigued by the spy world and on her website – mrisschool.weebly.com – keen spies age eight and over, can join the Mr Is School for Spies and take up lessons in the artform.
There were 72 lessons in all to learn, she said.
Booth cryptically introduces herself on the website as the author who lives in a town known as ‘Ash Vegas’, in a country where the people are named after a flightless bird with a really long beak.
She loves writing about secret people who do secret missions and enjoys solving cryptic crosswords, playing secret-coded music on an instrument with black and white keys and looking for hidden treasure in the skies with her telescope and binoculars.
The books, which in printed form cost $20 each, can be read together or as stand-alone stories. They are at the Ashburton library, or can be purchased directly via [email protected], via Amazon.com and are also available on Kindle.
