The Black Crow Conspiracy

By Christopher Edge

Penelope Tredwell, the pen behind bestselling author Montgomery Flinch, is cursed with writer’s block. She needs a sensational new story or her magazine, the Penny Dreadful, will go under. So when a mysterious letter arrives, confessing to the impossible crime of stealing the Crown Jewels just days before the King’s coronation, Penelope thinks she has found a plot to enthrall her readers, until the police charge Montgomery Flinch with the theft of the jewels. Can Penelope solve the mystery, restore the jewels, rescue Monty, save the magazine, and keep the true identity of Montgomery Flinch a secret?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Albert Whitman Company
• Release date: Mar 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504002851

Christopher Edge

Christopher Edge is an award-winning children's author whose books have been translated into more than twenty languages. His novel The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day won the STEAM Children's Book Prize and his last four novels were all nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal. Before becoming a writer, he worked as an English teacher, editor and publisher - any job that let him keep a book close to hand - and he now lives in Gloucestershire with his wife and family, close to his local library. Find out more about Christopher at christopheredge.co.uk and find him on Twitter @edgechristopher

Reviews for The Black Crow Conspiracy

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Black Crow Conspiracy is a fun read aimed at readers in middle school, but still very much able to be enjoyed by older readers as well. It tells the tale of Penelope Tredwell, who is secretly the writer behind the immensely popular Montgomery Flinch stories in her family's magazine, the Penny Dreadful. But Penelope has writer's block, until an anonymous letter provides inspiration for a thrilling new story about the theft of the Crown Jewels. All seems well, until the police arrive, insisting that Penelope's story is truth rather than fiction. Desperate to clear her magazine's name, Penelope begins her own investigation, but soon encounters a mysterious science society that seems to have ties to the recent sightings of "radiant boys", glowing green men who can walk through walls.The Black Crow Conspiracy takes the thrilling penny dreadful stories of the past, and makes them family friendly, weaving together a strong and smart female protagonist, some history, and a supernatural flair. This is the kind of book I would recommend for a school library to not only get kids interested in reading, but to give girls a heroine they can look up to.