Gareth P. Jones

 

Gareth first started writing when he was very young but it wasn’t until he was in his early twenties that he completed his first novel. Having had it universally rejected, he wrote a novel for children called Who Killed Charlie Twig, which received an equally unimpressed reception and remains rightly unpublished to this day.
 
Some years passed during which Gareth met his future wife, Lisa and began a career in TV. Working on shows such as 'The Big Breakfast' and 'Richard & Judy', he became side-tracked from his book writing ambitions until one day he found himself having lunch at the offices of Bloomsbury. He mentioned the unpublished book to a nice lady called Sarah, who politely suggested that he should send in the first three chapters for her to look at. Gareth returned home and excitedly told his wife this news, who gently explained that the book he had written actually wasn’t very good, but reminded him that he had recently begun work on a much better idea. This turned out to be good advice.

In 2007 Bloomsbury published the first of four books in the series The Dragon Detective Agency and have since published The Thornthwaite Inheritance, Space Crime Conspiracy and The Considine Curse. Gareth has also written a shorter story, Perry’s 5, published by Barrington Stoke and a series of books called Ninja Meerkats, published by Stripes.

The Case of the Missing Cats was nominated for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize. The Thornthwaite Inheritance has won the Hounslow Junior Book Award, the Calderdale Book Award, Leicester Children’s Book Award, Sefton Super Reads, Doncaster Book Award, Rotherham Children’s Book Award and Fantastic Book Award, Lancaster.

Gareth now divides his time between writing books, producing TV programmes, spending time with his wife and son, Herbie, and playing the slightly ludicrous number of stringed instruments in his front room.

 

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Featured Books, with extracts by Gareth P. Jones

Ninja Meerkats 4 : Hollywood Showdown
Gareth P. Jones
The author has just been named as winner of the Blue Peter Book Award for 2012. Meerkats are everywhere in films and commercials at the moment so it seems quite normal for a terrific little series to be created for...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/03/2012
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Ninja Meerkats 3 : Escape from Ice Mountain
Gareth P. Jones
The Clan of the Scorpion are escorting their mentor, Grandmaster One Eye, to a Kung Fu Grandmaster Meet deep in the mountains of Chile, when they are ambushed by a horde of enormous spiders - the Trained Tarantulas of Santiago!...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers | Books for Boys
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/01/2012
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Ninja Meerkats 2 : The Eye of the Monkey
Gareth P. Jones
The meerkat members of the Clan of the Scorpions are back. This time they are investigating the theft of an Indian Emerald with magical powers which vanished from right under the noses of the monkeys who were guarding it. Even...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers | Books for Boys | Reluctant Readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/07/2011
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Ninja Meerkats 1 : The Clan of the Scorpion
Gareth P. Jones
Bravery propels this entertaining adventure of how the four meerkat members of the Clan of the Scorpions fight to the death to prevent the evil ringmaster’s plan for world domination. A Big Cat is missing from the Hong Kong zoo;...
Featured in: 5+ readers | 7+ readers | Books for Boys | Reluctant Readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/07/2011
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The Considine Curse
Gareth P. Jones
Winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2012. Fourteen-year-old Mariel returns to England for her grandmother's funeral. It is the first time she has been back since she emigrated with her mother as a baby, and it is the...
Featured in: 11+ readers | 9+ readers
Format: Paperback - Released: 02/08/2011
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