Arabel and her notorious pet raven Mortimer make a welcome return to the Puffin nest.
When Arabel''s father, Ebenezer Jones, drives his taxi home late one night he comes across ''a large black bird, with a hairy fringe around its beak.'' He takes it home and, from that moment on, life is never the same again for the Jones family. Arabel''s raven is called Mortimer - and he''s one in a million. ''Nevermore!'' he cries when astonished or upset, ''Down the hatch'' he thinks before gobbling bowler hats, stairs, telephones. He dislikes flying except in emergencies, and with disaster-prone Mortimer around there are plenty of those.
There are seven hilarious escapades in this collection, brought to life by Quentin Blake''s wonderfully animated illustrations: THE MYSTERY OF MR JONES''S DISAPPEARING TAXI; MORTIMER''S PORTRAIT ON GLASS; MORTIMER''S CROSS; MORTIMER SAYS NOTHING; A CALL FROM THE JONESES; MR JONES''S REST CURE and ARABEL''S BIRTHDAY.