ARAMINTA SPOOKIE 3: FROGNAPPED - Angie Sage

I usually try children's fiction on occasion, but something about Angie Sage's Araminta Spookie and Wanda Wizzard (and the other characters) keeps me coming back for more.  Probably my favorite in the series, Frognapped finds Araminta - think Wednesday Addams, but with more personality and droll sarcasm - finds herself under suspicion when the trained acrobatic frogs of Barry Wizzard - Wanda's father - go missing.  Known for her practical jokes, this was one Araminta didn't pull off, so forming a detective agency with Wanda, the two young girls follow a lead in the form of a lady massage therapist, trailing her to Old Morris's mushroom farm - now interestingly turned into a marine park featuring a killer shark and - you guessed it - acrobatic frogs.  I really loved that book three took the readers out of Spookie House more, showing off Araminta's surroundings and even more colorful characters from the neighborhood.  The book (the entire series, actually) is genuinely funny, too, with an action-filled, very satisfying ending that satisfies.  Again, maybe my favorite of a series that can be read - and enjoyed - by anyone of any age.  ****1/2