In 1906, 11-year-old Tabitha Crum keeps her head down, reading her beloved Inspector Pensive mysteries to avoid the miseries of her daily life. Friendless other than a pet mouse, Pemberly, she is horribly mistreated at home and outcast at school. "Oh, Pemberly... if only life were like a book, and I could choose precisely what part I played," says Tabitha. But when she comes home from school with one of six coveted invitations to the philanthropist Countess of Windemere's house, Tabitha is thrust into the biggest mystery gripping London society. Upon arrival, Tabitha discovers that the mission of the weekend is to find the Countess's lost grandchild. It's a perfect occasion for Tabitha to employ all the detective skills she has learned from Inspector Pensive. But the weekend turns dangerous as the Countess is revealed to have an unstable, possibly homicidal personality, triggered by the occurrence of a death (how they dispose of the body may make some readers squeamish). Tabitha and the other children must work together to survive while solving the mystery. The stakes for gaining an inheritance could cost them their lives.
Jessica Lawson follows up her The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher with another charming period piece. The writing style has the flavor of a classic English manor house mystery adapted for middle grade readers. Avid mystery fans will enjoy Tabitha's use of the investigative method. --Jessica Bushore, reviewer