I will admit, when this book was described as a Victorian era Nancy Drew, I made a beeline to NetGalley and requested access to the title. Then, before I could even begin reading it, Pamela Thompson posted about it and doubled my curiosity. Both sources were right - it is a delightful book with a wonderfully complex heroine.
Myrtle lost her mother to illness several years ago and is being raised by her father (a lawyer) and a governess who understands Myrtle's preoccupation with crime and mysteries. I do not envy Miss Judson the task of meeting the emotional and intellectual needs of a precocious girl during that restrictive era, but somehow she manages. Whether it is taking a healthy walk, so they might "accidentally" observe the police investigations in the house next door, or taking her downtown to watch her father in court, Miss Judson comes through.
The other characters also provide glimpses into the social structure of the time. There is the gruff-seeming gardener, Mr. Hamm, with his more rustic way of speaking. Cook with her spanner is a delight in her unending battle with the hob in the kitchen. The other girls seem complete opposites to Myrtle with their concern over fashion and social position, although there are hints that at least one neighbor may not be as shallow as she appears. And the technology itself will be a bit of a mystery to modern readers: boilers for the "modern bath" in the neighbor's house, the newness of bicycles, the fact that not every home has a telephone (not to mention that cell phones are decades away).
If you know middle grader readers who enjoy historical fiction, mysteries, determined young protagonists, and some humor mixed in with the action (murder, kidnappings, blackmail, explosions), then you should recommend Premeditated Myrtle to them. Myrtle is funny, determined, intelligent, and enjoys the demise of an overly fluffy tea gown as much as I would myself - "the ragged carcass of the tea gown, hopelessly soaked, stained, burnt, blown up, hem-trodden, and reeking of lime and gunpowder." Don't you want to find out how it got that way and whether Myrtle was in it at the time? Publication date is set for October 6.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review purposes.
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