If you love enticing mysteries with an endearing new kid detective look no further than the first case in THE VIOLET VEIL MYSTERIES series. Set in England during the Victorian era of the 1800s, it starts off with a page turning surprise and never lets up.

13-year-old Violet is the daughter of an undertaker and lives with him at the cemetery along with her mother and younger brother. Violet is miffed she doesn’t get to do the same things as boys and feels girls aren’t taken seriously. She’d really like to help her dad with the business of dead bodies. No way that’s going to happen.

Still though she often sits near the next burials including a new arrival who was apparently murdered. Turns out Oliver is not dead and comes alive after emerging out of a deep coma the next day.

Violet sets out to solve the crime along with her faithful dog, Bones, and her new very much alive friend, Oliver. Bones almost steals the show with his helpful nature as he leads Violet and Oliver to clues. A great addition to the story.

But center stage belongs to Violet as she attempts to solve several murders that look similar to what happened in Oliver’s case. She is on the clock to figure it out before her father is hanged for supposedly being the one and only suspect. He’s guilty first unless Violet can come to his rescue with the real culprit.

The tense and often scary chapters are a testament to the great writing going on here. Even adults will be totally engaged in the plot. I would though save this one for 9 year olds and above in the MG category.

I’m looking forward to hearing what’s next for Violet in THE VIOLET VEIL MYSTERIES. I’m hooked like many new fans will be with this historical mystery.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sophie Cleverly was born in Bath in 1989. She studied for a BA in Creative Writing and an MA in Writing For Young People. She is the author of the SCARLET AND IVY series and THE VIOLET VEIL MYSTERIES, which are published in English by HarperCollins worldwide and are being translated into many different languages.

Aside from writing, she can often be found blogging about symphonic metal, watching fantastical TV and struggling to find her way out of her ever-increasing pile of books.

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(I received a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.)

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