Like all the best plots, this one is simple; and like all the best, simple plots, it has a happy ending. Online and offline, the Fools are a revelation. Their critical and commercial success and generally "wised-up" approach has turned investment into the new rock 'n' roll. Almost. Here they bring together the two strands of the Foolish empire: investment advice and Internet savvy.

The Fool's Guide to Online Investing is a breezy, whistle-stop tour of the key factors behind Web profits. Perhaps wary of their own observation that "investing online involves the same general principles as investing offline...it's no good adopting a different investment style, or throwing sensible principles to the wind, simply because you're investing online", the book makes no attempt to wow investors with new tools and techniques. Basic investment principles are covered but more often than not, The Fool's Guide to Online Investing points to The Motley Fool UK Investment Guide as the place to go for information and tactics. And, quite rightly, repetition is out.

With the Investment Guide on one hand and the peerless Motley Fool Website on the other, The Fool's Guide to Online Investing falls a little between two stools--or perhaps more accurately, it stalls between two Fools. Author Nigel Roberts' central task is to walk the reader through an Internet research exercise using the Motley Fool Website to demonstrate the power of the Web in accessing company information. All of the deeper Foolish facilities--message boards, charts, quotes and archived news stories--are highlighted and given their place in the research and decision-making process. There is also advice on online brokers, the process of buying and selling shares on and offline, and a cut to the Motley Fool's US sister for those looking to invest further afield. If it all sounds like an extended advertisement, that's because it is, but given their "hope that we may...be creating one of the world's future leading brands", who would dispute their right to some self-promotion?

The Fool's Guide to Online Investing adds up to a useful resource for investors wanting to check out the Internet. The ending? That would be giving too much away. Let's just say it involves the words "financial" and "prosperity". For more Foolish investment advice, visit the Motley Fool Bookshop. --Iain Campbell