Snakes' Elbows

When the timid millionaire pianist Barney Barrington moves to Woodford, extraordinary things start to happen. For local millionaire Jasper Jellit doesn't like all the attention Barney is getting and will do anything to upstage him, including hosting an extravagant chocolate party for Woodford residents.

But when Barney and Jasper want to buy the same painting, Jasper finds less scrupulous ways of getting what he wants. As Barney is too kind to ever have a suspicious thought, it falls to his hyper-intelligent cat Dandelion to save the day - with the help of Jasper's two misunderstood dogs Cannibal and Bruiser.

Winner of the Eilis Dillon Award for a First Children's Book

Auteur

Deirdre Madden is from Toomebridge, Co. Antrim. Her novels include The Birds of Innocent Wood, Nothing is Black, One by One in the Darkness, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and Authenticity. Her most recent novel is Molly Fox's Birthday, which was also shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She teaches at Trinity College, Dublin and is a member of the Irish Arts Academy Aosdana.