Honour among ghosts by Sean Williams

When 12 year-old Penny’s father, the town’s monumental mason, is thrown into goal for possessing a stolen gold cup, Penny knows that he is innocent and vows to see him freed.

Mysteriously, over the next few days, at least a dozen other items belonging to the town’s rich appear in poor people’s homes. Enlisting the help of Colm, Magistrate Nightwick’s son, Mab a magical scribe’s apprentice, and Niclas, a young ‘traveller’, the four are determined to disprove the suspicion of theft that is cast on the recipients.

This middle grade mystery is set in the same mid-Victorian Irish town as was Williams' earlier Her Perilous Mansion. Here it is populated by a large cast of engaging and delightfully named Dickensian characters from all walks of life, attempting to survive a freezing winter and avoid being wrongfully thrown into prison. Over the course of the detective hunt, they express prejudices, take sides and eventually come together for the common good. 

Without being heavy-handed, Williams gives a gentle nod to ‘issues’ such as recycling, gay attraction, ethnic discrimination and death taxes. He has his young protagonists question socially institutionalised inequalities and distribution of wealth, and appreciate the importance of relationships both within families and between strangers. The power of the written word and the importance of questioning authority is crucial to the plot, while the difficulties encountered by Travellers is particularly well fleshed-out and the female characters are feisty and ambitious.

While realistically recreating the social interactions and living conditions of the 19th century, Williams adds a layer of magical activity, and a cast of ghosts who are central to the plot but could concern some when recommending the book. This is a fast-paced book with bold protagonists in a well-developed fantasy world, where the characters’ actions and reflections will keep the middle-grade reader engaged.

Teaching notes are available here and here.

Themes: Mystery, Detectives, Magic.

Margaret Crohn