Diary of Detection

On this day 24th June 1920 I turned fourteen.

I plan to have a very exciting future now that I have thrown off the SHACKLES of SCHOOL! A detective is what I would most like to be. I cannot think of any reason why I could not be one. Except perhaps I am too young. And I don’t like blood.

Nancy Parker has recently been engaged in her first position – as a housemaid for the very modern Mrs Bryce. It’s not Nancy’s dream job (she’d rather be investigating crimes like they do in her beloved six-penny thrillers) but as Mrs Bryce starts to entertain her new neighbours with lavish parties, it becomes clear that something strange and interesting might be afoot.

Local burglaries, a cook with a deep, dark secret – and Mrs Bryce’s own glamorous but murky past. Will Nancy solve the mysteries while still keeping on top of her chores?

A hilarious and energetic middle-grade mystery, narrated part in the third person and part through Nancy’s journal.

‘One to put under the microscope of your budding Holmes.’ – Alex O’Connell, The Times Saturday Review

‘Intrepid housemaid-turned-detective Nancy Parker is a heroine to root for.’ – Katherine Woodfine, author of The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow

‘This junior sleuth is worth investigating.’ – Children’s book of the week, Alex O’Connell, Times