' Gadzooks!' said Dot ' The things that boy can do!' Dot loves play-acting dressing up her pet dachshund Piefke & making up words like 'splentastic' Her best friend is Anton who lives in a little apartment & looks after his mother They share a secret
- every night when their parents think they are asleep they sell matches & shoelaces on the streets of Berlin with Dot's grumpy governess But why? The answers involve a villain called ' Robert the Devil' a club-wielding maid a wobbly tooth a pair of silver shoes & a policeman dancing the tango as Dot & Anton get into all sorts of scrapes & even solve a crime in this delightful touching & hilarious adventure story