Oof, <em>Premediated Myrtle</em> by Elizabeth C. Bunce had all the makings of an exciting and fun girl mystery story...but it seriously suffered from the <em>'not like other girls' </em>syndrome. And honestly, I'm kind of torn on how I feel about it. I think this could have been a really fun book that I would have loved to add to my repertoire of mystery books for young girls. But, at the same time, I'm just quite disappointed in it?

<b>It's Nothing New</b>

This story, overall, really doesn't add much to the young girl mystery solver type novels. I feel like it kind of filled a template complete with misdirection fueled by the main character's personal dislikes, a kidnapping, and even a betrayal. In its own way, this book just seemed to be checking all the boxes that you've come to expect from these kinds of books. Myrtle Hardcastle has a lawyer father and is thoroughly invested in solving criminal mysteries.

She's your typical not like other girls trope and spends the vast majority of the novel being annoying and intrusive. And, naturally, she does an excellent job of solving the mystery with the occasional assistance of the adults (and animals) around her. And, frankly, I have to say...these adults are far to indulgent for this girl.

<b>Twelve-Year-Old Indulgiencies</b>

Alright, so I didn't hate the book.

I just don't think there's anything about it that really stands out. At all. It reads just like nearly any other mystery novel for young girls. And, sure, if this is your favorite genre then Myrtle will probably exist as the not bad character that might make your top ten, but is more likely a top twenty depending on how many you read.

At best, the book is mediocre. And that's if I completely ignore the fact that they pushed the not like other girls trope incredibly hard. It's made even worse by the fact that Myrtle doesn't really seem to have <em>any</em> friends at all. The other girls are awful to her when she's pushed to hang out with them instead of turning to pursuits she actually cares for. And there's only two other kids, leaving her to work through her deductions with the help of the adults.

And I just...felt thoroughly let down by this.

I just...why didn't this girl have any friends?

<b>Solving the Case</b>

Okay, so the end of the novel...sucked. It was thoroughly predictable, much to my dismay. And the thing is, the only piece of the book that I thought was unique was the way the novel began each chapter with a quote from H. M. Hardcastle's book.

I had a brief moment in which I mistook this book for Myrtle's herself, imagining that they were excerpts from a book she was writing presently. Turns out it was from a book written by an ancestor of hers, which just made the whole thing rather disappointing. But, at least it was cute?

<b>A Voice</b>

So, I listened to an audiobook version of this book. Therefore, I'll concede that the narration was actually pretty impressive. I really enjoyed the voice they chose for Myrtle, even if the character herself was rather annoying at times. She's British, aligning with Myrtle herself. And she did an excellent job bringing literally every character to life.

Aside from the narration, though, it was generally hard to care about the characters. I wasn't really intrigued by the mystery, either. The red herrings were plentiful and all of them unlikely enough that it wasn't really all too difficult to figure out the real culprit. Granted, I'm an adult so I'll admit that this is likely less obvious to younger readers.

But, there you have it, really. The book is just...average.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

I was given a free review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was so good! Myrtle is such a great character. The story was interesting and immediately pulled me in. I cannot wait to read more in this series. I would recommend this book! The narration was also great!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Myrtle and her adventure. Myrtle is sassy and smart and does not care that in the early 1900s and as a young lady of a means she is supposed to just worry about teas and embroidery. The secrets Myrtle uncovers around the death of her neighbor was perfect for the time the story was based and also believable that a child would be the one to solve it. Bunce did a fine job giving Myrtle just the right amount of family issues and sass while embroiling her in a murder mystery, which was entertaining while being a little educational and makes the book something I highly recommend.

This was so much fun to read! The mystery has twists and turns and Myrtle is so smart and funny. She's already on her way to being a great detective, but she's still young and sometimes blurts out things she shouldn't and can be a bit dramatic. Myrtle is relatable and her relationship with her governess and mentor is perfectly written. It seems that in middle grade mysteries, the adults usually dismiss the kids, but Miss Judson is Myrtle's partner in crime and encourages her to hone her skills.

The mystery was crazy and I kept thinking I knew what happened and then suddenly the plot would take a turn. It kept me engaged and thinking and was well paced. I definitely hope Miss Judson and Myrtle's dad end up together, she would be a great step mother. I also look forward to seeing Myrtle grow and solve more cases!

I highly recommend this if you're looking for an entertaining mystery that will keep you guessing. The audiobook has a great narrator that helps pull you into the story and get into Myrtle's head.

I received an audiobook copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Beth Ann Rose Young is a marvelous narrator! Her British accent was a listening pleasure. There was only one minor character that I struggled to understand. The Scottish brogue was very heavy. That just made the narration feel true to the era and country.

Myrtle is a precocious 12 year old who lives with her father and governess. Her upbringing has been unorthodox. She is fascinated by topics considered unsuitable for girlie her age during the 19th century. When her neighbor dies, Myrtle suspects murder. With the help of her governess, she looks for clues using the Socratic method. Her relationships with her peers and adults are entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Premeditated Myrtle" falls neatly into the category of what I'm currently craving - historical fiction featuring a young female protagonist solving a mystery. I also like it when my protagonist is smart and snarky, and Myrtle is both.

Another thing that I appreciate about this book is that adults aren't all lumped into the category of "never believing a child". In fact, some adults prove to be her staunchest allies, and I enjoyed her companionship with them.

This is a series I plan to continue reading. I'm glad that there was a little hint of what is to come at the end of this book.

As for the audio version, it was well done. The narrator holds the perfect tone for Myrtle, and she conveys her biting remarks perfectly.

As a teacher, I feel this book would lend itself well to a mystery unit, where you try to have the students solve the crime before Myrtle does. The clues are all there, you just have to look for them, and I think it'd be fun for the students to try.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Myrtle Hardcastle (please don’t judge her by her name, she hates it) lives with her father and her governess in England, in the late 1800s. The daughter of a prosecutor, she has a knack for detective work and an eye for detail that rivals Sherlock Holmes. She was innocently using her telescope to keep an eye on the neighbors when she noticed that the lady of the house (and her cat) had gone missing. The woman, 79 years old, had died. Was it murder? Myrtle is pretty sure it was - and she knows who did it, too! Of course, it’s hard to be certain about things when new evidence comes up.

Reader notes: very cute! Reminiscent of Enola Holmes.

I got this one as an audiobook from the publisher via Netgalley. First, I thought the narrator did an awesome job and would love for her to do more books.
The audience is middle school age, YA. It was a mystery with a child who honed in on all the skills of a clever detective. Having said that, I felt like it was a little to long and at times it was a stretch to see Myrtle pull off all her cleverness.
Overall enjoyable for the right audience and I loved the time period. I also enjoyed the quotes and footnotes. A very nice touch.

I’ve given my honest review for a Audiobook ARC.

Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle is a bit obsessed with learning about the criminal science and when her neighbor dies she isn’t sure was natural causes because things just don’t seem right. Armed with her fathers law books and her mother’s microscope and her very curious mind she sets out to figure things out (often getting herself in trouble with her father).

Miss Wodehouse was a bit eccentric and she grew valuable flowers that go missing at the same time she dies. Myrtle thought she knew what happened and ends up getting the gardener in trouble. Then she finds out some other things and it seems maybe he didn’t do it so she feels bad about getting him in so much trouble so she has to try and find more information on Miss Wodehouse’s heirs with the help of Miss Ada Judson, her governess.

Myrtle was a fun character, she is smart but not always right, so she is a flawed character which is good. I liked that she missed the mark a lot because she is young so she shouldn’t be able to figure out everything with ease. She often spoke up when she shouldn’t have getting herself in a spot of trouble and embarrassing her lawyer father at times. I thought it was fun that her governess let her drag her into thing because she was a bit curious too and she was good at easing the fathers mind at times when he would get a little angry at Myrtle. Her father is single and Myrtle wants him together to with Miss Judson and gets very frowny when he shows attention to any other ladies which gave me a chuckle or two.

I also thought the mystery was very well done because I didn’t figure it out and was a bit surprised at who it was! So overall I really enjoyed it. Lots of fun shenanigans going on and can’t wait to try another one! Recommend it for the young and old as I had fun with it.

Who doesn't love a cozy Victorian mystery with an irrepressible 12-year-old girl at the helm? And not just irrepressible, but also impressively intelligent, well educated, and as liberated and indulged as any Young Lady of Quality could be in the late 1800s.

Myrtle, our girl detective, is the only child of a supportive but distracted British Prosecutor and an intelligent and dedicated medical student, who has died before our story starts, leaving a deep impression on Myrtle's view of the world and her investigative methods. She is exceedingly fortunate in her governess, Ms. Judson, who is extraordinary in her own right. Ms. Judson challenges Myrtle with Socratic methods in her educational pursuits and plays Watson to her Sherlock (or her Enola, if you will). Myrtle also makes the acquaintance of a delightful law clerk with a ridiculous sense of humor that buoys the story at the perfect moments. I hope to see more of Mr. Blakeney in the rest of the series.

Myrtle is, perhaps, not as fortunate in her social circle, where mean girls shun her and call her "Morbid Myrtle" and where one cantankerous adult/neighbor dies of Mysterious Circumstances and another is probably a murderer. Armed with a spy glass, a knowing cat, a vase of lilies, and an inappropriate interest in cadavers and poisons, and exceptionally detailed understanding of criminal science, Myrtle sets out to solve the mystery, make sense of this unfortunate death, and see justice done. But the stakes get even higher when someone she loves is threatened.

With just a couple of pacing issues where the story could stand to be streamlined a bit, the writing here is otherwise excellent — striking the perfect cheeky, intelligent tone to match our cheeky, intelligent heroine. The author uses high-level vocab for middle graders, but makes great use of conversational footnotes and fun asides to the reader (Lemony Snicket-style). I would have LOVED this in middle grade when I was devouring Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew and wanting more, more, more — in quantity and quality. I didn't know the term "cozy mystery" then or that an "English murder village" was a thing, but that's exactly what I wanted and it's exactly what Premeditated Myrtle delivers. The audiobook narrator captures all of this perfectly.

One thing I never love, however, that shows up with frequency in plucky, precocious heroine tales, is when our girl differentiates herself by putting other girls down — she's not like other girls who are silly, empty-headed, and annoying. That creeps in here with Myrtle a bit and I was disappointed to see it. Part of it is salvaged by discovering that one of these "other girls" is actually quite smart and caring, but I wish that had been handled differently. To be fair, it's a excessively patriarchal period of history, and most of Myrtle and Ms. Judson's assessments and engagement with that are handled very well. One other content note: Myrtle also uses "idiot" and "stupid" in reference to herself and others, which I hate to see. This is an otherwise fun and positive story of keen observation, intelligence, and courage winning the day.

What a delight this middle-grade murder mystery is. Myrtle Hardcastle is a whip-smart 12-year-old with ambitions to join the Detective Bureau. She’s a wordsmith with an enquiring mind, a scholar’s vocabulary, and a telescope.

The trouble starts with that telescope. Something’s amiss at the house next-door. Myrtle investigates, and before you can spell Celastrina argiolus, a murder is discovered, clues accrue, and red herrings swim invitingly through the narrative current. Or should I say they sprout like weeds in the garden, for this is a mystery of botany and horticulture.

True to classic form, Myrtle not only sports a deerstalker, but has a sidekick: modern-minded governess Miss Judson - a Mary Poppins figure with impeccable poise and sang-froid: a foil to Myrtle’s occasional outbursts of bubble and pique.

In a fun bit of intertextual gameplay, each chapter begins with an epigraph quoting from the Principles of Detection: A Manual for the Amateur and Professional Investigator, 1893 by H.M. Hardcastle. The reader can deduce who the writer of this authoritative work is.

Wordplay abounds; in fact it was the pun on Myrtle in the title which initially drew my attention. And thumb’s up for the commodious bathroom. Booknerds can watch out for the literary genealogy running through the novel: the setting is Swinburne, and key characters are named Hardy, Wodehouse, and Blakeney. On the subject of the latter, Reader, I adored him and hope he reappears in subsequent novels.

I encountered this book in audio format, narrated by Bethan Rose Young with all the crunch and sweetness of a candy-apple. Her voice was warm and clear, with smugness and triumph in all the right places. I would love to read Premeditated Myrtle now, but will probably have to rush straight to the sequel.

Premeditated Myrtle is a delightful, witty, and intelligent historical novel. As for Myrtle, she is the kind of heroine with stuff in her pockets. Highly recommended for children aged nine plus and amateur sleuths of all ages.

Middle grade/mystery and adventure audiobook. I cannot use the NetGalley Shelf app to listen because my phone is too old and the iOS is out of date.. Sorry!