The Querulous Effect

by Arkay Jones

When Jay, on holiday in ‘boring’ Frimpton, sees an advertisement seeking a young assistant to help with ‘top secret experiments’, he could never have guessed that it will lead him on a quest that will take him from rural England to deep within the Arctic Circle. Along the way, Jay meets Professor Theobald Ricardo and makes new friends, the studious Tim and Ella with her faithful terrier, Chip. Together, the three children encounter a range of engaging characters and face many exciting and scary experiences. As problems mount from the Professor’s secret experiments they leave the safety of England in an attempt to solve the mystery of the Querulous Effect. Written in the style and spirit of a classic children’s adventure, the book also examines the challenges and dangers of cutting-edge bio-science and its interaction with global ecosystems. The Querulous Effect will entertain, amuse and absorb children from the age of nine upwards, whilst stimulating their interest in the world around them.

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About the Author

Roger Jones

Roger Jones was born in September 1939 at the start of World War 2. Though of Welsh parents, he was brought up in Yorkshire and so claims dual nationality. Educated Uppingham School (where, like Stephen Fry, he suffered the agonies of the damned in the gym), and Jesus College Oxford (a notorious Welsh hangout). Spent twelve years teaching English to foreign learners in London, Oxford and Athens. Then 12 years as a smallholder in West Wales, raising sheep and goats. For the next fifteen years he worked as English translator to the Burgundy wine industry. He is now semi-retired and lives in Hampshire. History is his principal interest and writing his main occupation.

Publications include:

"A hard day at the Holy Office" (novel) W.H.Allen 1969

"The rescue of Emin Pasha" (history)Allison & Busby 1972

"Small despairing thuds" (poetry) Bean Train Press 2002, repr. 2004

"Molebag's thesaurus" (commonplace book)on-line at www.uofh.com

"Travellers and explorers" (bio-bibliographical handlist)online at www.uofh.com

As editor: "The Norwich School of artists" (CD-ROM) HMSO/Norfolk Museums Service 1998

As translator: "The Wines of Burgundy" by Servant and Pitiot, 12th and 13th eds. Presses Universitaires de France 1994, 2004.

A second volume of "What's Who?" (dictionary of eponyms) is in progress.