The Cat is the Clue

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Myrtle Hardcastle. I am ever-so-fond of this highly opinionated girl. The twelve-year-old daughter of a British barrister is an observant young woman with a keen interest in solving mysteries. Some may call her nosy. She considers herself a serious sleuth. Myrtle maintains a collection of crime-detecting tools and has authored her own guidebook for investigators.

Written in first person, all evidence is presented from her point of view. Myrtle directly addresses her audience as Dear Reader, breaking the fourth wall.

Set in the Victorian Era, when Young Ladies of Quality spent their days hosting tea parties and posing in floral tableaus, our heroine most emphatically does not fit in.

Under the care of her doting yet slightly distracted father and her governess Miss Ada Judson of French Guiana, a woman of intelligence and decorum, Myrtle relentlessly pursues her interest in mysteries. Miss Judson is sometimes a co-conspirator with her young charge.

There is a not-too-subtle undercurrent of mutual attraction between the two adults.  Myrtle hopes to bring these two together and desperately fends off attention toward her father from any other woman. 

But enough of that. On to the mystery. From the moment the tale commences, Myrtle suspects that something nefarious is going on at the home of her neighbor Miss Wodehouse. She is missing. So is Myrtle's cat Peony. Could the two disappearances be connected? Myrtle is determined to find out. Soon she is convinced that Miss Wodehouse was murdered and sets out to discover the method and motive for this woman's demise.
There are enough clues to hint at the mystery's outcome. Warning: Read carefully. Following a red herring may result in arriving at a false conclusion. The trail of clues places Myrtle in some unusual situations: finding evidence in a locked police surgeon's lab, searching the neighbor's bathroom, and causing a greenhouse explosion.

Bunce skillfully contrasts rigid Victorian mores with a girl and her governess who refuse to be confined to society's strictures. The governess is adroit at retaining the appearance of propriety while circumventing prevailing conventions. Initially the plot progresses slowly, clue by clue.  Soon the pace picks up with increasing intensity and builds to a tension-filled climax. 

Adventure awaits! Put on your deerstalker cap, grab a notebook, and some laboratory testing equipment. Premeditated Myrtle is a delightful middle grade murder mystery worth tracking down at your local bookstore or library .  

Joyful news! Myrtle's detective work continues. Look for How to Get Away with Myrtle.

​Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: October 6, 2020  Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers  ISBN: 978-1561459353