When the proprietor of Leighton's Mercantile is found dead the morning his annual Christmas display is to be unveiled, it's clear that a killer had revenge in mind. But who would want to harm the local shopkeeper? Perhaps someone who still remembers the mysterious scandal that destroyed his career as a professor and archaeologist ... The killer strikes again a few days later, manipulating the figures in the holiday display to foretell the crime. Myrtle Hardcastle, twelve-year-old Young Lady of Quality and Victorian amateur detective, finds herself racing to uncover the long buried facts of a baffling cold case-and the motivations of a modern murderer.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD MYRTLE HARDCASTLE has a passion for justice and a Highly Unconventional obsession with criminal science. Armed with her father's law books and her mum's microscope, Myrtle studies toxicology, keeps abreast of the latest developments in crime scene analysis, and Observes her neighbors in the quiet village of Swinburne, England. When her next-door neighbor, a wealthy spinster and eccentric breeder of rare flowers, dies under Mysterious Circumstances, Myrtle is sure Miss Wodehouse has been murdered. With her unflappable governess, Miss Ada Judson, by her side, Myrtle takes it upon herself to prove the crime and find Miss Wodehouse's killer. With sparkling wit and a tight, twisty plot, Premeditated Myrtle, the first in a series from an award-winning author, introduces a brilliant young investigator. Myrtle is more than ready to take on hard cases and maddening Victorian rules for Young Ladies of Quality in order to earn her place among the most daring and acclaimed amateur detectives of her time ... or any other.
Myrtle Hardcastle has no desire to go on a relaxing holiday excursion with her aunt Helena when there are More Important things to be done at home, like keeping close tabs on criminals and murder trials. Unfortunately, the twelve-year-old aspiring detective has no say in the matter. So off Myrtle goes-with her governess, Miss Judson, and cat, Peony, in tow-on a fabulous private railway coach headed for the English seaside. But before the train reaches its destination, Myrtle and Peony discover a dead body in the baggage car. Someone has been murdered-with Aunt Helena's sewing shears. The train trip is derailed, the local police are inept, and Scotland Yard is in no rush to arrive. What's a smart, bored Young Lady of Quality stranded in a washed-up carnival town to do but follow the evidence to find out which of her fellow travelers is a thief and a murderer?
The gold thread promises Charlotte Miller a chance to save her family's beloved woolen mill. It promises a future for her sister, jobs for her townsfolk, security against her grasping uncle -- maybe even true love.
To get the thread, Charlotte must strike a bargain with its maker, the mysterious Jack Spinner. But the gleam of gold conjures a shadowy past -- secrets ensnaring generations of Millers. And Charlotte's mill, her family, her love -- what do those matter to a stranger who can spin straw into gold?
This is an award-winning and wholly original retelling of "Rumplestiltskin."
As if it were a roving of wool! Rosie and I stood there and watched him, moment by moment, as the spindle bobbed and twirled. Something pulled out from the brown straw and through his knobby fingers, and where it shoudl have gone onto the spindle, the finest strands of gleaming gold threads appeared. Round and round the spindle went, and the gleaming of gold turned with it. I don't know how long we watched it, turning and turning, flashing gold with every revolution. I could not take my eyes away.
