Reviews

In Myrtle Peril by Elizabeth C. Bunce

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jilljemmett's review

5.0

A mysterious girl arrives in Swinburne to try to claim she’s the heir to the Snowcroft fortune. Myrtle’s father, Mr. Hardcastle, is hired to help prove this girl’s identity. The girl, who claims to be Ethel Snowcroft, was lost at sea with her parents as a young child, but apparently she somehow survived. Meanwhile, Mr. Hardcastle is hospitalized with severe tonsillitis. While under the influence of pain medication, he claims to have seen a murder. Myrtle and her governess, Miss Judson, are the only people who believe him, so they must conduct their own investigation in the hospital, while also trying to prove Ethel’s identity.

This is another great Myrtle Hardcastle mystery! I loved the complexity of the mystery. Though the case of the girl who was claiming the fortune and the murder in the hospital seemed like two separate mysteries, they were connected. They were cleverly woven together and everything was explained in a way that made sense in the end. I really enjoyed this middle grade mystery!

In Myrtle Peril is a great mystery!

Thank you Thomas Allen and Son for providing a copy of this book!

Content warnings: murder, carbon monoxide poisoning, death of parent, hospital visits, drowning, attempted suicide

Content Warnings

emileereadsbooks's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The fourth book in the Myrtle Hardcastle series takes us on a whole new adventure as Myrtle embeds herself into two cases involving her father. One in which his services as a solicitor are engaged to determine the identity of a young girl claiming to be the heir to a large fortune. The other, a murder that he supposedly witnessed as a hospital patient for which no body is found. Myrtle is in hot pursuit of the killer in an aim to save her father and validate his witness statement.
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This latest installment in the series making Mr. Hardcastle more of a central character fleshes out Myrtle's world even more for us. I loved Myrtle at it once again sleuthing, but I also loved that this story brought out her more tender side as it allowed her to deal with emotions brewing from the loss of her mother. This book also highlights Myrtles intelligence and naivety in a beautiful balance so we as the reader can anticipate what is coming in some instances before Myrtle and in others we get to experience the reveal as she presents it to us.

If you haven't jumped into this series yet, I encourage you to do so if you love girl sleuths, a historical (Victorian) setting, and precocious animal sidekicks.