How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C Bunce *****

How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C Bunce is the second installment of investigations by the 12-year-old irrepressible Myrtle Hardcastle. Accompanied by her governess Miss Judson and cat Peony, she is packing for a Seaside Holiday. “I surreptitiously withdrew two petticoats from my luggage, replacing them with the latest edition of English Law Reports and three volumes of my encyclopædia. Taking the whole set seemed excessive, but I could not be sure Fairhaven would have a bookshop.” Unsurprisingly her holiday is soon interrupted by a jewel theft and a murder.

If you like precocious 12-year-olds and intelligent cats, this is your mystery.

Myrtle is up to date on the latest Victorian forensics. “Tardieu spots, I breathed. The blood vessels burst, leaving behind telltale hemorrhaging on the skin. She wasn’t just stabbed, I said. She was strangled.” Another recent scientific discovery that is instrumental to Myrtle’s investigations is the danger of green wallpaper. The best green of the period came from arsenic which slowly poisons the room’s occupants. Crime scene photography and sketches also play a key role in her investigations.

With all the trains and telegraphs, this might be considered a steampunk mystery.

“As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.”

Check out https://amzn.to/2SpaDMN to see my books.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.