A historical mystery where everything is not as it seems
Think upstairs downstairs and then imagine it played out in a city. This is a tale of class divides, played out in the smart streets of 1800s Edinburgh and the underground shelters left by building work. Mary King’s Close, once a street itself, became the foundation for new buildings, leaving an underlayer. The destitute and desperate use it for shelter, including the main character Zinnie and her sisters. Meanwhile, on the streets above, a new attraction called The House Of Wonders appears.
The connection between Zinnie and her sisters is not only touching, but it is an active challenge to the society around them. The girls aren’t biological sisters, and many of the people they encounter struggle to understand that. Each of Zinnie’s sisters faces prejudice for their own reasons. Nell is black and when she is unwell it is a challenge to find people who are willing to treat her. The theme of discrimination is handled beautifully with the relationship between the girls there to counter the thoughts of other characters.
The mystery itself is like a magic box – it leads to mystery upon mystery with new information enriching the plot. It was a wonderful plot, with the solution almost but not quite within reach until the final second.
The inclusion of Arthur Conan Doyle as a character was great fun, because the story acts like a precursor to the Sherlock Holmes series. It is like imagining what kind of events might have inspired Conan Doyle’s books, and one thing is for certain – Zinnie would have made a great Dr. Watson. The relationship between the pair develops over the course of the story. At first, Conan Doyle only talks to Zinnie because she is a useful source of information, but his respect for her as a human being whose live is more difficult than his grows until he treats her as a true equal.
The House Of Hidden Wonders kept me guessing with its terrific plot, and I rooted for the main characters from the first chapter. A wonderful historical stjory for middle-grade readers.
Synopsis:
Life on the streets is difficult but Zinnie is determined to protect her sisters. They shelter in Mary King’s Close, the tunnelled street beneath Edinburgh, and earn coins in any way they can. This brings Zinnie into contact with a young medical student named Arthur Conan Doyle, and he has the strangest task for her yet – to find out who has been cutting ears off the corpses used for medical teaching.
Strange things begin to happen. A new establishment goes up called The House Of Wonders and its owner’s shady practices bring it to Zinnie’s attention. At the same time a ghost begins to haunt Mary King’s Close when there was never a ghost before.
Can Zinnie uncover the truth of these strange events without bringing her sisters to danger?
- The House Of Hidden Wonders is available now from Little Tiger UK. RRP £6.99.
