PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED) - Allison is a triplethreat: he plots deftly, draws confidently, and writes dead-on adolescentdialogue. Set in a grammar school in a British working-class community, thisfirst book in his Bad Machinery series--originally published as a webcomic--hasthree earnest boys wing against three sharp-tongued girls to solve mysteries.The framing story concerns a Russian owner of a U.K. football (soccer) teamtrying to bully an elderly homeowner to sell her house; as the title hints,supernatural elements surface, too. There's plenty of cynical commentary aboutBritish consumer culture, and the students' sardonic banter provides a constantobbligato. About her mother's boyfriend's Velvet Underground albums, Shaunayawns, "It's nice that you gave some money to people just playing music for thefirst time." Allison's adults are sympathetically drawn, too--even thearchvillain has a human side. A wry glossary "defines" British terms ("Nuffink:The way you say 'nothing' if you were dragged up rather than brought up"), butcan't begin to illuminate the arcane mysteries of the Britishfootball-industrial complex; readers are on their own there. Dark, fast-paced,and riotously funny entertainment. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)