I read Code Name:Verity when it came out a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. Elizabeth Wein has a way of developing characters and plot lines that full you and and help you to get lost. In that book you meet Julie and you are carried away with her story. The Pearl Thief gives a closer look at Julie's earlier life and the events that help to shape her. Mystery, suspense, forbidden romance, and the journey every teenager takes of trying to find themselves are all in this book. While I didn't feel it was as good as Code Name:Verity, it still has its merits and is a good book. I recommend it.

(cross-posted from Goodreads)
Oh, my gosh, oh my gosh! More Julie!

That said, let me try to write a spoiler-free review. Shortly after arriving home, 15-year-old Julie is knocked unconscious and left on the bank of a stream. She's saved by a Tinker family. But the blow to her head has damaged her short-term memory. The book unfolds as a series of mysteries:
Who attacked Julie?
Who stole a jar of freshwater pearls?
And, more disturbing yet, was one of the young men working on the estate murdered? If so, who killed him, and why?

Things I loved:
1. It was wonderful to learn more about Julie's family, especially her brothers.
2. The Tinker family, the MacGregors, were wonderfully characterized. Julie herself learns a lot about prejudice from her own experiences and from her growing friendship with Euan and Ella, the Tinker brother and sister near her age.
3. There's some fascinating archaeology.
4. There's a really interesting character in the town librarian, a woman with flaws (both physical and otherwise) and blind spots, but also with great virtues. Wein writes complex characters so very well!
5. She's also wonderful with settings.
6. Oh, and I finally learned why Julie had the nickname Queenie!

Anyone who's read and loved "Code Name Verity" will want and need to read this book, but it stands on its own, as well. It didn't surprise me that Wein is a Sayers fan. Anyone, of any age from 12 or 13 on up, who loves British mysteries or family stories will enjoy this book as well.
)

Thanks to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I initially rate this one a 4-star, but after considering it further, I bumped it up because it was a really rich read.

The story here is simple, Lady Julia Beaufort-Stuart (Julie, and Queenie from <i>Code Name Verity</i> comes home from school to her grandparents' house. The house has been sold, along with many of the family possessions to cover debts from the beginning of the depression in 1929 through Julie's grandfather's long sickness and death. Almost as soon as she arrives, Julie is attacked and in a coma for three days, victim of an unknown assailant. She recovers, and as the family packs up what's left and the house is transformed around them into a school, Julie realized that the mystery of her attack is tied into a larger mystery, involving the titular antique pearls. The cast of this book includes familiar characters from <i>Code Name Verity</i>, including Julie, her mother, and Jamie.

I loved a lot of things about this book. At its core, it is a simple village mystery. The plot here could be an episode of Father Brown or Grantchester (yes, please). *note - pretty sure these are both set in England, but imagine one of these shows in Scotland, the very specific setting IS important.* There is SO MUCH research and character work wrapped up in this story, though, that it becomes the very best of this genre. Some of our new characters, Mary, the librarian and Ellen McEwan, a Scottish traveler, especially, are rich and complex. They add so many issues of class and privilege (which Julie usually realizes she has in spades) to the book, without the book becoming preachy. Mary, who is hard-of-hearing and looks different because of a genetic condition, is especially interesting as someone who is often looked down upon, but in turn is prejudiced against the traveller family. In Julie, you can see the seeds of the brave and bold girl we knew in <i>Code Name Verity</i> (though her ill-advised attempt at a May-December romance freaked me out a bit, she is only 15), and I am so glad that Wein gave her a chance to be happy. This is a complicated time for Julie, but she does get to romp a little bit here, and I loved that.

I've never been disappointed by an Elizabeth Wien book, and you only have to read her author's notes to see why - in addition to her prodigious skill as a writer, she takes research seriously, giving life to her characters and settings (and in this book, even pearls). If you loved <i>Verity</i>, read this, and I don't think you will be disappointed.

One note about the eARC- it seemed to have some glitchy repeating text of a scene between Ellen and Julie. I don't think that was meant to be there, but I will check out a copy of the finished book to be sure.

This book is absolutely beautiful - it will resonate on a particularly deep level with readers who have read Code Name Verity and know Julie's fate, but it would also serve as an excellent introduction to this series for new readers. It is chock-full of historical detail, with characters so vividly realised they seemed to jump off the page. This just might be my favourite book of 2017 so far.

Amazing companion novel to books I already loved with a fiery passion. To know Julie as a teenager is to add a whole different dimension and makes me want to go back and re-read CNV. Plus the historical details and setting are top notch. Excellent!!

A Code Name Verity prequel? Don't mind if I do! I loved the interesectionality of character layers here--gender matters, class matters, ethnicity matters, disability matters, sexuality matters (and can be flexible and explored)...and you can be a disabled woman who abled people look down on, and still look down on Irish Travelers. For example.

I wasn't as invested in the mystery element (of the tituarl pearl thief) so much as I just loved (most of) these characters. If you've liked Elizabeth Wein's other books in this series-ish thing, you'll definitely want to pick this up. It could also standalone if you like historical mysteries.

One note: I read this from an e-arc and I *think* there was a formatting error, in that it kept repeating a few scenes? Like some of it I got was due to her memory loss and things coming back to her but there were a few repeats that didn't seem to make sense. (Also they were in different font.) I'll skim through a finished copy when it comes out and see about that. It wasn't a huge deal but it was a little confusing?

It’s Julia’s last summer on the Scottish estate that once belonged to her Granddad. His body has been laid to rest a few months ago, the Murray collection, these treasures and valuables that once belonged to her Granddad are being catalogued at the area library, and the Strathfearn castle and manor are now under construction. Julia has her memories as she makes her way through the estate and onto grounds, but days later when she wakes up in the hospital, she is confused, what has happened to her? Mary, the librarian is waiting for Julian when she awakes and tries to help her solve this mystery. When the two small tinker children arrive later, Julian realizes they were the ones who actually saved her. The tinkers, the travelers who have been coming for years to Inchfort Field, it was the McEwens, they were the ones who came upon Julia and assisted her. The question is what caused Julia to be unconscious?

I enjoyed all the adventures that were inside this novel. While Julia was trying to solve what actually happened to her, we had the construction occurring on the estate, then there was some drama with the characters, we had individuals working on the inventory at the library, we also had to consider the history of the property they were dealing with, and there were other smaller incidents that cropped up throughout the novel. I loved how some of these events crossed over into each other as I read, as it made the story exciting and entertaining. I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it.

I received a copy of this novel from NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review.

The formatting on this one made it incredibly difficult to read. I believe I'll like it, but I couldn't finish.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. While I never found it quite as engaging as neither <i>Code Name Verity</i> nor <i>Rose Under Fire</i>, I was still very pleased to get to read it.

It took me awhile to get into the story. Partly because I didn't care too much about Julie at first, partly because I really couldn't figure out what genre the book was trying to be! However, I was still intrigued enough to keep reading, and once the book decided for sure that it was going to be a mystery, I enjoyed it a lot more.

I was really, really frustrated by how people treated the tinkers, but guess that's pretty true for the time, and that describing it any other way would be "whitewashing" (for want of better word) history.

It didn't break my heart the way Elizabeth Wein's two other books did, but it's a cute story to tide people over, who want to know more about Julie/Verity.

DNF at 20%

The pacing of this book is very slow and is not capturing my attention at all. Perhaps if I had read the other books in this series, I might have more interest in it. Unfortunately, this one is not for me.

*ARC provided by NetGalley

I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the lives of the familiar characters from Code Name Verity. The character development was excellent, but I found that the plot did not hold my interest. I could see others enjoying this book, but found it wasn't for me.

Elizabeth Wein has done it again. This time, her brilliant writing has delivered us to a beautiful historical setting in Scotland. We meet almost-sixteen-year-old Julie, who is familiar to those of us who have read the amazing Code Name Verity. She returns to her family's estate, which is being sold to pay off debts, and turned into a school. The story quickly turns into a mystery as Julie tries to discover why she was attacked on her way back home, who these "travelers" are, and what happened to Mr. Housman. Fans of Wein's other works will not be disappointed in her ability to develop rich, diverse, and multi-faceted characters. I loved the historical aspects of the story as well as the exploration of class and prejudice. The tone of the book was lighter than Code Name Verity, but provided an interesting background to a character CNV readers undoubtedly were curious about. To be honest, I am not sure I can say I liked it better than CNV because their tones were so different, but the writing is stellar (as expected) and I fell in love with the characters (in Julie's case, I fell in love again). I can't wait to see what Wein comes up with next.

She was coming home, not for a visit, but to help liquidate her deceased grandfather’s estate. The debt collectors were at the door and the house was to become a school. Fifteen-year-old Julia must be part of the dismantling of lifetimes of accumulated family treasures and heirlooms, but an attack by a shadowy figure leaves her comatose, awaking a victim of amnesia. She is only alive because of two young Travelers, (gypsies).

When things go missing, the Travelers are accused and now it is up to Julia, her brother and the Traveler siblings to uncover the mystery that shrouds their lives. Enter the world of Britain in the 1930’s when prejudice, wealth and power determine the worth or veracity of a person and watch Julia grow as a person and come of age as a young lady as her eyes are opened to the worst and best in humanity.

THE PEARL THIEF by Elizabeth Wein is a rich historical tale that precedes her CODENAME VERITYtale. Exquisite details, and lyrical prose invites the reader to sit back and travel to a time long ago, feel the atmosphere of the times and witness the determination of four young people against all odds on a mission to discover the truth.

I received an ARC edition from the Disney Book Group in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Publisher: Disney Hyperion (May 2, 2017)
Publication Date: May 2, 2017
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Print Length: 336 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

Code Name Verity fans will be overjoyed to learn that Elizabeth Wein has written a brilliant prequel to her bestseller spy thriller. The Pearl Thief is set in 1938 Scotland, where 15-year-old Julie is spending one final summer on her deceased grandfather's estate. This parlor mystery is far more innocent and sweet than Wein's World War II novels. The Pearl Thief reads like an Agatha Christie mystery for young teens, but the gorgeous writing, Shakespearean themes, and historical details would appeal to adult readers too.

Due to the 1930's British setting, The Pearl Thief reminded me of a favorite classic, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Once again we have a formerly wealthy family living on an estate with a crumbling castle, which mirrors their reversal of fortune. There's a clash between teen-idealized romance and the carnal desires of adults. The lyrical writing style and bucolic setting are similar, but it's the eloquent girl protagonist, who yearns for a grander life, that makes these books unforgettable.

The Pearl Thief's central plot is a missing man mystery. Police dredge the river for a body when a museum scholar, hired to catalogue the grandfather's treasures for auction, vanishes while digging for pearls. Julie was the last to see the scholar alive, but she was hit on the head and can't remember what happened. Having devoured many mysteries as a teen, I guessed the main culprit in the early chapters. That didn't spoil the story because most of the suspense comes from worrying if Julie will string the clues together in time and act sensibly.

Julie has trouble controlling her impulses, leading to risky behavior. She's a beautiful girl full of dualities: revelling in silk ballgowns and rare river pearls but also envious of her brothers' freedom. Once her hair is cut short, Julie tries on gender identities playfully like Shakespearean costumes. The bisexual undertones in Code Name Verity are further explored in this progressive prequel while still adhering to the conservative morality of the time period and of her aristocratic class. The most controversial part of The Pearl Thief is Julie's crush on a middle aged man, who encourages her flirtations.

Rebellious Julie bulks against societal norms to befriend a deaf librarian with facial deformities and a family of Travellers. She has to overcome her own prejudices to earn their trust. Wein makes all her characters realistically flawed: the Travellers and the deaf woman are also prejudiced against each other. No one is perfect, but characters can learn from their mistakes and change.

Over the course of The Pearl Thief, Julie grows into the young woman who will become the spy Verity. This delightful prequel feels like it was written first, and the books could be read in either order. I appreciate Code Name Verity all the more for understanding the backstory, and I hope Elizabeth Wein writes another Julie novel. Julie/Verity is one of my favorite YA heroines.

Reviewer's Disclosure: Since I've reviewed other novels by Elizabeth Wein, Disney Hyperion USA offered me the ARC of The Pearl Thief. The digital galley had formatting errors, making it unreadable, so I requested a print galley from Bloomsbury UK (I'm on sabbatical in England.) Borrowing a clue from the mystery, the Bloomsbury galley came with (fake) pearls in the envelope! Elizabeth Wein is a blog buddy and my favorite historical YA author. One of her editors, Kate Egan, is a friend of mine too.

Wein has written another very interesting book, this one set in Scotland. She brings the place and time clearly to mind with a plot colored nicely with good, believable characters and mystery to keep the reader going. I'll read whatever she writes with anticipation!

This is a prequel to Code Name Verity. It takes place in Scotland the summer that Julie is turning 16. It's a lighter book than either Verity or Rose Under Fire, but it's still a lot of fun. It has some of the plot twists you'd expect, but much less of the darkness of the wartime books. Julie is testing her own limits and gets caught up in a mystery involving her family's legacy, historical archives, and her new Traveler friends. Wein did a great job of writing Julie's character, as I can see the beginnings of the woman she will become later on. It was also fun to read about her life with Jamie and the rest of the family before the war.

Julie is sixteen and making one last visit to her late grandfather's Scottish estate with her family before ownership passes to a private school. She finds herself involved in the suicide (or is it murder?) of a historian cataloging artifacts on the estate and befriends a brother and sister who are Travellers, just as familiar and in love with the estate as Julie herself.

The Pearl Thief can be read entirely on its own or as an introduction to Wein's earlier novel, Code Name Verity. I'll make no secret of it - I love Code Name Verity; the characters of Rose and Julie speak to me. So this novel felt like a welcome visit with an old friend.

Why read <i>The Pearl Thief</i>?

The answer is simple. Julie Beaufort-Stuart is one of the greatest young-adult heroines to grace the printed page. Honestly, is there another character--male or female--who could pop in and out of the World War II Era, Indiana Jones-style as well as Julie could? While Wein has written a sequel to <i>Code Name Verity</i>, the only way fans were going to see Julie again was in prequel form, which is what Wein gives readers in TPT.

The setting here is Scotland, on Strathfearn estate of Julie's recently deceased grandfather. His family, the Murrays, have fallen on hard times and are busy turning over the estate to a boarding school while cataloging an extensive collection of historical artifacts at the local library. The most valuable items in the collection are river pearls, many of which were collected on the Murray estate, and some of which were worn by Mary Stuart, the famous "queen of Scots."

Returning early for her summer holiday, Julie is attacked on the bank of the River Fearn, waking up a few days later, unable to recall details of her assailant. Her rescuers, Euan and Ellen McEwan, are treated terribly (suspiciously) by town officials because they are gypsies or "tinkers." As Julie's friendship with the McEwans grows, she will try to protect them, even as details of her assault, as well as pieces of evidence, arise.

Julie's adventurous, daring nature is evident everywhere. Despite the fact that she's a few weeks shy of her 16th birthday, she flirts with and kisses the dashing foreman, Frank Dunbar. Later, looking boyish in a kilt, her hair shorn after the attack, she'll steal a kiss from an unwitting lassie, too. Add to this learning how to drive and clambering across castle ruins, and fans of <i>Code Name Verity</i> will recognize "future Julie" in these scenes.

It is fun, reading for early glimpses of "Verity" here. One example:
<blockquote>I would like to be a theatrical escape artist, I think, like Houdini, or a circus owner like Bertram Mills. I want to dazzle people and be applauded for it. I am good at it, and it is thrilling, [like] walking a tightrope when you've had too much to drink, dangerous and wonderful</blockquote>

I can't close this review without bringing out details of Scotland, which Wein layers throughout the story. Scottish history--hundreds of years before 1938, in which the novel is set--seems to be everywhere, from Mary Stuart to ancient burials. Wein finds beauty in the nomadic lives of "Tinkers," as well as in the aristocratic set, if which Julie is a member. Of course there are Robert Burns lyrics aplenty, too.

<i>The Pearl Thief</i> will be a welcome reunion for fans of <i>Code Name Verity</i>. For those who haven't read CNV, it is a mystery, a vivid glimpse of Scotland, and an introduction to one of the most fascinating YA characters of recent years.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in return for an honest review.