''The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow'' is the debut novel of British children's author

Katherine Woodfine Katherine Woodfine (born 1983) is a British children's author, known for The Sinclair's Mysteries series beginning with ''The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow''. Biography Katherine Woodfine was born in Lancashire in 1983. She studied English ...

, initially published by Egmont Publishing in June 2015. The novel is the first book in

The Sinclair's Mysteries The Sinclair's Mysteries is a quartet of children's historical mysteries from author Katherine Woodfine. The first book, ''The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow'', was published in June 2015. It was a Waterstones Book of the Month. The sequel, ' ...

, a quartet of mystery-adventure novels set in Edwardian England.''The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow'' was Waterstones Children's Book of the Month in June 2015. The novel was inspired by Katherine's love of classic children's adventure stories, E. Nesbit, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew.

Plot

Left penniless when her father dies, Sophie is pleased to find a job in the millinery department of Sinclair's, soon to be London's largest and most glamorous department store. There, she makes friends with Billy, a junior porter, and beautiful Lil, who is one of the department store “mannequins” by day and an aspiring actress by night. And, together with the help of vagabond Joe, they soon find out who stole the priceless jewellery. Just before the store is due to open, there is a daring burglary, including the theft of the priceless Clockwork Sparrow. When Sophie herself becomes a suspect, the only solution is to solve the mystery of the clockwork sparrow. Her friends Lil and Billy help her to solve the crime.

Setting

This detective story is set in an Edwardian department store owned by an enigmatic New York millionaire. The department store setting was inspired by the likes of Selfridges and

Fortnum and Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...

Publishing details

* Author:

* First published: June 2015 * * Publisher: Egmont Publishing * Age range: 9+ years * Genre: Children's Mystery Adventure Series

References

External links

Goodreads title page
2015 British novels 2015 children's books British mystery novels British children's novels Children's historical novels Children's mystery novels Novels about orphans 2015 debut novels Egmont Books books Children's books set in London {{2010s-child-hist-novel-stub