The Case of the Perilous Palace

The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency #4

by Jordan Stratford, Kelly Murphy (Illustrator)

The history-mystery-science series continues as the Wollstonecraft Detectives--Ada Byron Lovelace and Mary Shelley--take on a case by royal request.

Ada's imperious grandmother has absolutely shut the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency down--until they get a case from a princess, that is.

The princess Alexandrina Victoria, age 9 (who will grow up to be Queeen Victoria), is the most closely watched girl in England. She is never alone. Every morsel she eats is catalogued. Every visitor overseen. Every move noted down. She has but one thing of her own--a sketchbook she uses as a secret diary, where she records her private thoughts in code. But now, somehow, that sketchbook has disappeared.

And so the princess enlists Ada and Mary to figure out what has happened to the sketchbook without arousing the suspicions of her minders. A most clandestine case indeed! One that will involve breaking into Kensington Palace and uncovering a host of surprising royal secrets...

This funny, Christmas-time romp of a caper will delight history and mystery fans alike.

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Childrens, Historical, Fantasy

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 9, 2018

About the author

Jordan Stratford has been pronounced clinically dead, and was briefly mistakenly wanted by INTERPOL for international industrial espionage. He is an ordained priest, has won numerous sword fights, jaywalked across the streets of Paris, San Franciso, and Sao Paolo, and was once shot by a stray rubber bullet in a London riot. He lives on a tiny windswept Pacific island populated predominantly by realtors and carnivorous gulls.

Represented by Heather Schroder of ICM Partners, New York.

Reviews

[✦BookishlyRichie✦ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to this fun series! :)

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

OKay so this one was the one where my suspension of disbelief finally broke. I love all the characters so much (including Victoria! So great!) but Ada making a literal bat wing flying machine? What? Breaking into the Palace easily and with no repercussions? I beg your pardon?

Still clever and fun and I love how the plot pays homage to other victorian novels or stories, but this one was a trifle unsatisfying. Also sad cause I want them to continue to fight crime and be awesome forever, and I think this is the last book in the series.

[Melmo2610 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this series. I am sad this appears to be the last one, especially since there's a bit of a cliffhanger (at least to me). The storyline/mystery of this one was good, and the ending was fun.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lady Ada Byron's grandmother has banished all the people Ada likes and confined Ada to her room guarded by footmen at all times. Ada misses her friends and her beloved library where she can find the solution to any problem. Then when the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency receives a very important request, Ada's Gran begs Ada to take the case. Ada won't and can't without her friends. She strikes a bargain with her grandmother, she'll help Baroness Lehzen, whoever she is, and solve the case and Gran will leave so Mary and Anna, the maid, can return. Ada is surprised to discover the middle-aged German woman is governess to none other than the young Princess Alexandrina Victoria. Drina is heir to the throne and as the heir, she can never be alone and there are spies everywhere in the palace. Drina has one thing that belongs to her and it has gone missing!

This adventure is a little too far fetched to be believable. Breaking into the palace, even by a child, would be a hanging offence. Children were not exempt from the justice system. Charles Dickens is a character in this world and he would write Oliver Twist. This story doesn't make that connection and Charles doesn't have much to do here, being busy with his new job. At the end of the book Ada's new invention really takes the cake for precocious inventing. Hot air balloons existed (but not steam powered ones) so that makes sense for the time. The solution to the mystery is not at all what I expected and I really found it absurd even if it did come from an Edgar Allen Poe novel. The whole story I kept waiting for a tie-in to the overall larger mystery and here it comes too late in the story but then makes the plot a cliffhanger. What are the girls going to do with this knowledge?

There aren't any new characters here so I will discuss the characterization of the fictional versions of real life people. At first Ada comes off as kind of bratty but I totally understand how she feels and would react the same way. Ada's powers of deductive reasoning must rival Sherlock Holmes for her to figure out the clues in the story. Still, I like this socially awkward young genius. I feel a connection to her. Mary is as kind as ever but allows Ada to boss her around and put her in difficult situations that would spell ruin for her family if she were caught. Ada's family is noble so she could get away with eccentric or illegal behavior but Mary can't. Jane won't take part in this investigation. Allegra is still a little silly and crazy.

New people are real life figures of the young Queen Victoria, her governess Baroness Lehzen and Sir Thomas Conroy. I liked this depiction of the young queen as a little girl. She appears meek and uncomplicated but her exterior hides a keen mind. I love how she managed to save a difficult situation with quick thinking and her secret code is very clever. Here, Drina is not imperious or snobby in any way. She's just a lonely little girl. Baroness Lehzen is the mother figure young Victoria needed. The Baroness cares for Victoria in a motherly way and tries to teach her young charge how to be an independent thinker. I didn't like the characterization of Sir Conroy. He comes across as a buffoon who can't speak English properly. He was clever enough to manipulate the Duchess of Kent into attempting to make her daughter a puppet for his grand plan to elevate his own social status.

I'm still hooked on this series, especially now we know more about Nora Radel.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans of this series, perfect for intermediate readers, will be delighted with this installment. Although her grandmother has put a moratorium on any more detective work and even cut free her hot air balloon, Ada Byron and her sidekick, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, end up doing what they do best--solving crimes or sorting out mysteries, after Ada receives a royal command to do so. She and her friends must figure out where an important possession of the future Queen of England, Victoria, known as Drina at her current age of nine, has gone. Ada and Mary don't even hesitate about going about their task, although Ada drives a hard bargain with her grandmother in order to get back into business. Although the author has taken liberties with the characters' ages, this is still an engaging series, and it's fun to imagine what things might have been like if Ada and Mary had been close in age. Back matter provides information about the time period and the actual characters encountered in the book. I have enjoyed all of the books in this series and appreciate the details in the narrative as well as the illustrations that appear throughout the story. Although I wasn't surprised at the mystery's resolution, I still enjoyed the journey, mostly because these girls seemed so lifelike. Young readers might have enjoyed the many word slips of Sir John, but I found myself wondering how any queen or educated person could have stood being around someone so self-assured and yet so ignorant of the proper words to use. YIKES!

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if Augusta Ada Byron (Ada Lovelace of computer programming fame) and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin (author of Frankenstein) were contemporaries and ran a detective agency? The imagined result is this series. The Case of the Perilous Palace is the fourth title in the series and has the two girls coming to the aid of nine-year-old Princess Victoria, who has lost a sketchbook where she hides her innermost thoughts away from the prying eyes of her mother and her mother's secretary, Sir John Conroy. Ada and Mary visit Kensington Palace and embark on a plan to solve the mystery using scientific contraptions and their wit. Well-drawn characters, intriguing puzzles, and witty dialogue help the plot unfold. 20 black and white illustrations help to engage the reader and 11 pages of notes review the era of the Regency and highlight the real lives of nine of the characters as well as where the author got the idea for the ending of the story and an explanation of the Polygon, a fifteen-sided apartment building in London which housed the Godwin family and one of Dickens' characters. Recommended for middle graders. 183 pages.

[Julie]

The last of the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency books, and while this one was as fun as the others, it did require a slightly larger balloon to suspend my disbelief. (SPOILERS AHEAD) For example, Ada creating a bat-wing flying machine, or the fact that the Our Young Heroines (tm) were able to break into Kensington Palace without any repercussions. (Honestly, the girls’ interactions with guards has constantly been one of the weakest parts, IMO – they seem able to confuse and fluster guards far more easily than I’d expect. Then again, this is a book written for 10–12-year-olds, so I can’t be TOO harsh on it.) All that said, I thought the ultimate solution to the crime (Princess Victoria’s sketchbook has been stolen!) was quite clever, and I enjoyed the dangling plot thread of Nora Radel’s revealed identity. It looks like the book was angling for yet more sequels, but none have come out since 2018 (after being 1-a-year before that), so I’ll assume this is the end of the series for now. It’s been charming! Definitely enjoyable!

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun, quick read. I put this in the "fantasy" category, because it is essentially alternate history, as the author has altered the timelines of several of his characters so that they are able to interact. The main characters are Ada Byron and Mary Godwin, who formed a secret detective agency. But when Ada's grandmother finds out, she sends Mary and Ada's other friends away. But then, Baroness Lehzen, governess to the young Princess Victoria, requires their help, so Ada insists on Mary's return. Together they untangle a convoluted mystery at Kensington Palace, who young Victoria (known as Drina) is kept very much in isolation, and constantly under close supervision. The author also includes brief biographies of all the main characters, encouraging readers to further explore the lives of these fascinating historical figures. Recommended.

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mom and I read The Case of the Perilous Palace for our Mother Daughter Book Club and it fun as most of the other titles in this series have been. However I felt the storyline in this book was disjointed and the ending rushed although a big reveal late in the book will definitely mean we’ll be reading the next book for a future book club. Hopefully the next book will be more carefully executed like the earlier titles in the series were. I still rate this 3 stars for the humor and my love of the characters.

[Joy Weese Moll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ada Lovelace is under virtual house-arrest by her grandmother for unladylike behavior. A detective agency, indeed! What kind of thing is that for a young girl to be engaged in?

Grandmother’s opinion changes, though, when Ada gets a summons to Kensington Palace to visit Alexandrina Victoria, the future Queen of England.

More thoughts about this book and the whole series on my blog: The Case of the Perilous Palace

[Lori Alden Holuta · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 4th (and final at the time of this review) mystery in this series is deeply satisfying to my inner ten-year-old. It's got many of those familiar classic tropes - secret passages, thwarting adults, sneaking around where one shouldn't be, codes between kids, mud, animals, creaking ships at harbor side. And more! If you are ten, you will love it. If you were once ten, you'll love it too.

I do hope more books in the series will come along. But even if we only get four, we are blessed.

[Book - Dragon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This came out in 2018, but I feel like there needs to be another one. It didn't feel finished to me. At the end we find out who Nora Redal (was that her name? I've already forgotten) is and then the book is over. I need some kind of confrontation and demanded answers. Why is Libby a criminal mastermind? Why did she spy on Ada? Why and how did she mesmerize people? And why did she make them dress up as puppets? Oh wait, I just realized the answer to the last one, but the others need answering.

[Brittnee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another great mystery for the Wollstonecraft Detectives! This time the girls work with a young Queen Victoria to find the girl's missing secret diary. Once again I live the story and how it is based on the era and a famous mystery story.

Such a great series for young readers interested in a mystery.

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This girl-powered mystery series featuring historical figures draws to a close with a royal problem. I wish there were more to have it been concluded in a better matter but it was a delightful read regardless.

[Mayken Brunings · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 4th book in the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency series, and I recommend reading them in order. This is an excellent sequel that features a certain princess Victoria as Ada's and Mary's client. If you liked the previous books, you'll like this one! I certainly did.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series and I appreciate how the author includes a Notes section at the end that explains the history, timeline, and backstory of the characters. I hope the series continues and we learn more about Nora Radle.

[Chels · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series.  It's the perfect mix of middle grade and mystery and really challenges the reader's vocabulary.  It's funny and fresh and I love the real history of the people at the end. It's a wonderful middle grade book.  

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series was clearly building to something more with Ada's nemesis, but either the author or publisher seem to have dropped the series after four books, so there are a lot of loose ends. It's still a cute series, but a bit of a disappointing end.

[BeBe LeStrange · Rating 5 out of 5]

The entire series was a joy to read and I am especially fond of the characters and their real life connections. I was sad, however, that the adventures of the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency have come to an end in this final installment.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too much disrespect for authority and deceit for my liking...
I do appreciate how the girls work together and each uses her strengths to help solve the case.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another solid 3.5. It is a cute, fun series but they go by so quickly! I'll keep reading them if more get published.

[Bridgette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, as always. This series continues to be awesome and pitch-perfect for a younger MG series with two whip-smart girls as its leads.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another charming adventure with Wollstonecraft Detective Agency - these books just keep getting better.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good, although I liked the other books better. I loved Victoria! It was largely unrealistic though, involving a girl making flying wings and another girl breaking into the palace.

[V · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this one is my favorite so far. I felt like the mystery for this book and the overarching plot with Ada's nemesis struck the best balance in this one.

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sad to see this series end but the author wrapped it up well. I enjoyed following the girls on their journeys and their growth as young women, especially Ada.

[Lourdes (Chapters We Love)]

Doing a re-read of what I thought was a trilogy only to find out there’s a 4th book! I need it now!

[Orli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this series when I was younger and just loved it. And even though I am way too old now for these books now, I still read it because I was so excited to see what adventure these brave girls went on next. Honestly, these books are such great little mysteries and I loved to read this book as a quick, fun read.
What's also great about these books are the strong female main characters. Ada and Mary are brave and severely smart. Reading these books as a little girl made me so happy and powerful and I actually really looked up to them!
Finally, as you know I love historical fiction and this series is one of the most creative series' of historical fiction that I have ever seen. Jordan Stratford has taken two great female role models and slightly altered their stories to make them two best friends, going around being smart and kicking people's butts together.
I don't know why I gave this book a 5/5, but I just love it so much that I felt like it deserved it.