Brett H 5.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed in the United Kingdom – This is the fifth Derek and I have read and enjoyed each of them in turn. We first met Derek as a young lad with his chums playing on the site which Biskos, a major supermarket company, has designs on. Showing signs of his future crusading spirit he takes up cudgels against the behemoth supermarket chain in an admirable but doomed battle. Later volumes see Derek all growed up, in a career and then married to the lovely Sally. However, he never loses the charm and naivety of that little lad playing on the vacant lot.

In this, the last of the series, Derek manages to get himself into all sorts of new scrapes and embarrassment as he fights against the high speed rail link which is planned and which will impact on his home town of Slatterford. He has lost none of his naivety, particularly when dealing with the opposite sex or his seemingly unerring skill in making Sally suspicious of his dealings with young ladies who cross his path. All the old crowd from the previous books are there, together with some interesting new characters including the devious Crystal Glasse and the dubiously named Chesney Wilfordon.

To my mind the author kept the best to last here my wife read and enjoyed Derek Takes Action as a standalone book. However, I do think it works better if you have read at least some of the rest of the series and understand Derek and his rather strange relations before you start. There is a strong, clear and well thought out plot here which, coupled with Derek’s charm and child like naivety make this well worth a five star rating.