Nooks & Crannies
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Charlie and the Chocloate Factory meets Clue when six children navigate a mansion full of secrets—and maybe money—in this this humorous mystery with heart.
Sweet, shy Tabitha Crum, the neglected only child of two parents straight out of a Roald Dahl book, doesn’t have a friend in the world—except for her pet mouse, Pemberley, whom she loves dearly. But on the day she receives one of six invitations to the country estate of wealthy Countess Camilla DeMoss, her life changes forever.
Upon the children’s arrival at the sprawling, possibly haunted mansion, the countess reveals that each of the six children is adopted, and that one of them is her long-lost grandchild—and heir to a large fortune. Not only that, but the countess plans to keep and raise her grandchild, regardless of what the adoptive parents have to say about it.
Then the children beginning disappearing, one by one. So Tabitha takes a cue from her favorite detective novels and, with Pemberley by her side, attempts to solve the case and rescue the other children…who just might be her first real friends.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Packed with the delicious elements hidden passages, unexplained noises, suspicious servants of a traditional British mystery, Lawson's (The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher) story, set in 1907 England, will keep readers engagingly puzzled throughout its multilayered twists and tangles. Six children on the cusp of turning 12 are summoned to the country estate of Countess Camilla DeMoss, who soon reveals the competition she has planned. Among them is Tabitha Crum, whose parents plan to abandon her to an orphanage, and whose only friend is her pet mouse. Tabitha is obsessed with mystery books and dreams of working for Scotland Yard; as unnerving events unfold, she is in her element. The Dahl-esque story, humorously peopled by distinctive children and adults, poignantly captures the loneliness and longing of an unwanted child: when Tabitha finds a disguised keyhole that perfectly accepts her key, she has "the odd wish that she could be key-shaped and could find a space where she fit so perfectly." Well thought-out and deftly executed, Lawson's novel will appeal to a wide audience. Ages 8 12.
