The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine

You are cordially invited to attend the Grand Opening of Sinclair’s department store!

Enter a world of bonbons, hats, perfumes and MYSTERIES around every corner. WONDER at the daring theft of the priceless CLOCKWORK SPARROW! TREMBLE as the most DASTARDLY criminals in London enact their wicked plans! GASP as our bold heroines, Miss Sophie Taylor and Miss Lilian Rose, CRACK CODES, DEVOUR ICED BUNS and vow to bring the villians to justice…

My thoughts
If I had to review this book in a word that word would be charming. This book is utterly charming and I for one was utterly engrossed by it from the first to the last page and was left wanting more by the end.

Firstly I was utterly charmed by the history. I loved seeing London of the 1920s and the stark constrast between the rich and poor. The rich living life full of glitz and glamour and the poor working their socks off to scrape together a meagre existence. It really highlights the unfairness of the Edwardian age and how tough most found it in those post war years whilst others were living the high life.

I was charmed by the main character Sophie Taylor, a young girl who had come from a comfortable background but due to circumstances beyond her control found herself living a tougher life and forced to work for a living in an age when it wasn't seen as proper that she do so. She reminded me a lot of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart in her character and I loved the book for that. I love seeing these sort of characters in novels set during this period because they always tend to have something about them which makes them fascinating to read about.

The story itself is also charming. The story revolves around the mystery of the clockwork sparrow which is stolen from Sinclair's department store and Sophie ends up being the one working hard than the corrupt police force to find out more about what is going on and ends up finding out more than she bargained for as she uncovered connections between the robbery and underground gangs.

All in all a book I would highly recommend.