The Wollestonecraft Girls embark on their most important case yet-the famed dinosaur fossil hunter Mary Anning is being blackmailed. Her precious dog has been snatched and the kidnappers are demanding that Miss Anning authenticate some fake dinosaur bones up for auction at the British Museum in order to get him back. Ada and Mary have just three days to track down the fossil fakers, find the dog, and save the integrity of science! The game is truly afoot in this quirky caper involving blood-sucking leeches, an asthmatic pug, smoke bombs, secret elevators, diabolical disguises, and wicked word-play.
This history-mystery series continues with another fine display of brains and bravery from the Wollstonecraft Girls Ada Bryon Lovelace and Mary Shelley. Inspired fun for middle grade readers and fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society and Lemony Snicket! The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency was supposed to be a secret constabulary, but after the success of their first case, all of London knows that Lady Ada and Mary are the girls to go to if you have a problem. Their new case is a puzzle indeed. It involves a horrible hospital, a missing will, a hasty engagement, and a suspiciously slippery servant. But Mary s stumbled onto a mystery of her own. She spotted a ghostly girl in a grey gown dashing through the park. A girl who is the spitting image of their new client. The two cases must be linked . . . or else there s a perfectly supernatural explanation."
Eleven-year-old math prodigy Ada Lovelace, daughter of the famous and infamous poet Lord Byron, is a genius. Isolated, awkward and socially inept- but a genius. Mary Godwin, age 14, daughter of radical philosopher William Godwin and feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, is a romantic. It has been arranged for Mary and Ada to be tutored by the young man who calls himself Percy B. Snagsby, a nervous fellow who may or may not be a spy. Every day, Mary rides to the Byron estate in a carriage accompanied by Charles, a stowaway boy she is supposed to pretend isn't really there and who all the while keeps his nose in a book.
As the two girls become fast friends, their irrepressible curiosity leads to the formation of the secretive Wollstonecraft Detective Agency. Their first case involves a stolen pendant, a false confession, and an array of fishy suspects- but these are no match for the deductive powers and bold hearts of Ada and Mary.
Playful historical references and witticisms abound in this comic romp featuring Newgate Prison, a renegade hot-air balloon ride across the rooftops of London, and word-play worthy of the literary characters who inhabit the story. The Case of the Missing Moonstone is funny and fanciful middle-grade fiction that is guaranteed to delight readers of all ages.
Part 1 of the The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency Series.
