How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce
Middle Grade Historical Mystery
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How to Get Away with Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries #2)
4 STARS, Middle Grade Historical Mystery, My format: paperback
Goodreads Synopsis | Buy on BookShop
Reviews in series: #1 Premeditated Myrtle
After her previous…incident…of solving a neighbor’s murder, Myrtle is sentenced to a nice relaxing holiday away from home with her governess Miss Judson and her eccentric aunt Helena.
Personal Review:
Myrtle is a fiery girl with lots of courage and a brilliant mind. But Miss Judson is the real reason we read these books.
Ok, that's only partly true, but I absolutely love Miss Judson, and her relationship with Myrtle, and how she just can't help herself. She is just as adventurous as Myrtle and has just as much spunk, but she somehow conducts herself as a lady throughout everything.
I also loved the role of Peony the cat again. I'm not normally a cat person, but Peony will forever be the exception.
It's hard to not compare these books to Aggie Morton, but I think I like this series better so far. I like that adults are more involved and that Myrtle doesn't spend the entire time looking for more clues - the clues often will just happen to fall in her lap. So that may be more unrealistic, but I think it is more appropriate for the age of the characters.
I would probably rate this higher if there weren't some suspenseful parts because the writing is exquisite. Actually, when it started I thought it might just be a jewelry thief case and was excited that we would get a middle grade mystery without a murder (but that was not the case). It may just be that I have sensitive female readers in my house, but they will definitely not be able to read this until well beyond the 10-year-old recommendation.
Content Warnings:
murder (not too descriptive), kidnapping of child, fall into water at night