Jessica is not happy about her father's plans to remarry, but her brother Tom is livid. They don't want a step-family, particularly not a black one, and definitely not one containing Felix, Tom's big football rival at school. Dad's plans for a bonding holiday on Dartmoor seem doomed, and that's before Jessica hears about the legend of the Hairy Hands. Family tensions and spooky happenings cause a crisis before deadly danger, in the shape of an escaped convict, brings this unwilling family together.

 

There are 144 pages in this book. This book was published 1999 by Penguin Books Ltd .

Carnegie medallist Gene Kemp exquisite writing brings a breath of fresh country air to all young readers. Paul Howard studied graphic design in Leicester, graduating in 1989 with first class honours. For a time he worked in London's Natural History Museum. He lives in Ireland. He won the Blue Peter Children's Book Award 2001.