Premeditated Myrtle

Written by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Narrated by Bethan Rose Young

A 2021 Edgar Award Winner, Best Juvenile
A BookPage Best Book of 2020: Middle Grade
A Mighty Girl's 2020 Books of the Year

Introducing Myrtle Hardcastle, your favorite new amateur detective: a wickedly smart twelve-year-old with a keen interest in criminology and a nose for murder in Victorian England.

Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle has a passion for justice and a Highly Unconventional obsession with criminal science. Armed with her father’s law books and her mum’s microscope, Myrtle studies toxicology, keeps abreast of the latest developments in crime scene analysis, and Observes her neighbors in the quiet village of Swinburne, England.

When her next-door neighbor, a wealthy spinster and eccentric breeder of rare flowers, dies under Mysterious Circumstances, Myrtle seizes her chance. With her unflappable governess, Miss Ada Judson, by her side, Myrtle takes it upon herself to prove Miss Wodehouse was murdered and find the killer, even if nobody elsebelieves he —not even her father, the town prosecutor.

With sparkling wit and a tight, twisty plot, Premeditated Myrtle, the first in a series from an award-winning author, introduces a brilliant young investigator ready to take on hard cases and maddening Victorian rules for Young Ladies of Quality in order to earn her place among the most daring and acclaimed amateur detectives of her time or any other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980085492

Reviews for Premeditated Myrtle

[Amber · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was so good! Myrtle is such a great character. The story was interesting and immediately pulled me in. I cannot wait to read more in this series. I would recommend this book!

[Katie McNeece · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great middle grade mystery. This was well worth a listen. Myrtle is a clever character and would be great friends with Flavia de Luce from Alan Bradley's series. I love the 19th century setting as well.

[carolesrandomlife · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was great! Myrtle was such an intelligent girl and I loved the fact that the adults in her life supported her and were a significant part of the story. The crime in this story was surprisingly complex and kept me guessing until the end. I was hooked by this story early on and found it almost impossible to set aside. Where were middle-grade books like this when I was younger?12-year-old Myrtle is a fantastic character. She is more intelligent than most of the adults in the story and is always looking into something and constantly making observations. When a neighbor dies, Myrtle decides that she needs to look into it and she will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of things. The Victorian setting was incredibly well done and only added to the story’s charm.I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrator did a fantastic job of bringing this story to life. Bethan Rose Young did such a great job of representing this fun cast of characters. I found her voice to be very pleasant and didn’t want to stop listening. I cannot wait to read the next book in this fun middle-grade series!I received a review copy of this book from Algonquin Young Readers.

[lacy_007 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVED this book. I loved the main character Myrtle and her relationship with her governess, Miss Judson. I loved reading about crime and detective work in Victorian England, and spunky Myrtle and her drive to solve the murder of her neighbor. The writing was great and the mystery was intriguing. It had me guessing who the culprit was until the end. I highly recommend this book if you like mysteries!

[ladycato · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received a galley of this book through NetGalley.Premeditated Myrtle is a middle grade mystery that abounds with wit, mayhem, and murder, the kind of book I would have loved as a kid and still adore at age 40.Myrtle is the 12-year-old daughter of a British prosecutor who doesn't quite know what to do with a girl inclined toward morbid interests. Her medically-trained mother is dead. Her dearest friend and comrade is her governess Miss Judson. Myrtle is a but of a snoop, a girl who can hardly contain her glee when the mean girls try to pull a cruel prank by locking her in the town morgue.I LOVE Myrtle. She is flawed and real, smart and sweet. She's the perfect lead for a mystery series like this. The central plot is around the murder of her next-door-neighbor, an elderly woman obsessed with flowers. There are conniving heirs, not-so-helpful police, a false confession to murder, a cat who knows everything but can only meow--really, this is a not-short MG book packed with twists and turns. It's the perfect cozy read for MG readers and parents AND grandparents alike. For a comparative book (set in the same Victorian time frame in a small British town), look up the delightful The Body Under the Piano Aggie Morton mystery by Marthe Jocelyn.