The Curious Crime

by Julia Golding

Is curiosity a crime? Ree discovers the unfairness of being a girl in a male-dominated scientific world, where alternative ideas are swiftly squashed. Enter a fantasy island where Phil the dodo and other unusual wild animals roam corridors, great halls and an underground network of passages of a magnificent museum and science academy. Prevented from following her creative passion as a stonemason, Ree is confined to cleaning the halls at night as a maid. But then the murders start happening... A determined scholar Henri and strong-willed Ree join forces to solve the mysteries and prove their innocence.

Genres: Middle Grade

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2018

About the author

My journey to becoming an author has been a roundabout one, taking in many other careers. I grew up on the edge of Epping Forest and was that dreamy kind of child who was always writing stories. After reading English at Cambridge, I decided to find out as much as I could about the wider world so joined the Foreign Office and served in Poland. My work as a diplomat took me from the high point of town twinning in the Tatra Mountains to the low of inspecting the bottom of a Silesian coal mine.

On leaving Poland, I exchanged diplomacy for academia and took a doctorate in the literature of the English Romantic Period at Oxford. I then joined Oxfam as a lobbyist on conflict issues, campaigning at the UN and with governments to lessen the impact of conflict on civilians living in war zones - a cause about which I still feel very passionate.

Married with three children, I now live in Oxford between two rivers, surrounded by gargoyles, beautiful sandstone buildings and ancient trees.

My first novel, 'The Diamond of Drury Lane', won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 (formerly known as the Smarties Prize). I was also chosen by Waterstone's in 2007 as one of their 'Twenty-five authors for the future'. In the US, 'Secret of the Sirens' won the honor book medal of the Green Earth Book Award.

My latest series, which starts with Mel Foster and the Demon Butler, about an intrepid Victorian orphan who lives in a household of monsters, won Bronze in the Primary Teacher awards in 2015. The next part, Mel Foster and the Time Machine, has set the time-dial to arrive in 2016.

Reviews

[Steff Fox]

| Reader Fox Blog |


The Curious Crime by Julia Golding was not a terrible book, in fact, parts of it were quite fantastic. But unfortunately, the book sent a message that I had an extremely hard time stomaching. My initial disgust with the book itself did ebb somewhat as I continued on, which is something I felt relieved about as I nearly did not finish this book. I understood Golding’s desire to show the benefits of “why” questions, however, it became difficult to take her seriously the very moment God was brought up. The book is somewhat littered with a disregard for scientific thought, lacking a developed understanding of the fact that “why” questions are not absent from science nor discouraged in any real sense, but rather that unprovable facts are not given merit as true answers.

Science is founded on why questions just as much as how. The why and the how meld together to create our amazing ability to find truth. Why is it that a plant grows when I give it water? How does the plant grow? They’re not separate from each other. What Golding references in The Curious Crime are the why questions that have yet to find verified answers and tries to puport faith, which has absolutely no verification thus far, as a reasonable answer. God is a theory, one that definitively has no facts to back it at this current point in time. And the only issue science takes with religion is when people make claims that God is a truth which cannot ever be denied, a declaration that is blatantly ridiculous. I truly do not think Golding, as far as the book she has written implies, fully understands this. For someone who can be quoted as having said that scientists accept and/or welcome the possibility of being proven wrong, it baffles me that Golding would portray it as she does. I had huge problems with her push for religion and faith as well as the insulting way she portrays science in this book. It’s a take I cannot agree with.

Barring the religious nature of the novel, the book was fairly good. I had initially been rather excited to read it, especially as the book started off with a rather brilliant plot involving a young female character who has to fight for the right to work in a job that has been decided upon as one only a man can hold. It’s set in a museum, which was ridiculously exciting, and the motivation for main character, Ree, was wonderfully tantalizing. There’s so much promise within the start of the book that it was utterly devastating to have so much taken away from the book by the overall message. Thus, as a result, the book quickly became rather mediocre, the only thing pushing it along being the mystery of who the murderer is—the answer was rather anti-climactic—Ree’s secret is revealed far too quickly, a massive time jump is made, and frankly, I was baffled as to Henri’s purpose in the book as it did somewhat take away from Ree’s character.

There is a mild commentary on race and racism, just barely making itself known. They’re almost 'blink and you miss it' moments varying from brief references to Henri’s home and mother and then eventually a single comment from the menagerie keeper. Overall, the commentary was rather subpar to what I would expect in 2018, though I guess it’s better than having nothing at all and I did appreciate that there was at least some diversity included within the story. But ultimately there were a number of things I just didn’t like about this book and I’ve been in the position in the past of having read some really impressive books about young girls breaking the bounds of societal expectations for their genders that don’t fall into the problematic issue of pushing religion in a manner that so brazenly defames science, the worst part lying in what appears to be the author’s own ignorance on the matter. It disturbed me greatly to see it in a book, and a middlegrade one at that.

So, perhaps The Curious Crime simply wasn’t for me.

Just as a final note, I do have to say that I’m rather in love with the cover. It’s gorgeous, inclusive, and quite enticing.

I was provided this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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[Tessa]

DNF @ 44%

I am just so bored. I like the idea of it but the execution is not good.

***Thanks to Netgalley for the free digital ARC***

[Elevetha]

*an ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review *

*DNF at 130 pages*

While I applaud, in astonishment, the book's defense of religion and its unique portrayal of science overtaking religion in an unhealthy and even tyrannical way, I can't get behind the fact that I was 130 pages in and nothing interesting was happening.

The characters, the story, and the world had potential but failed to take them anywhere. Honestly, it was a chore to drag myself from page to page at this point.

I'm curious if the murders promised us in the synopsis were right around the bend, or if they were just the few animals that had gotten offed, because to be frank, I didn't come here for a murder mystery about animals.

Unless I hear that this REALLY picks up or is brilliantly written throughout concerning the science and faith struggle, I won't be picking this one up again.

[Caitlyn]

This is quite a difficult book to review as my feelings about it are rather conflicting. Hence why I've gone for 3 stars as there were some real highlights in this book and other areas that didn't work so well. Also my interest and enjoyment in the story were just ok.

This story is set in an alternative history version of the 1850s. Some things from our world are still present such as Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, the works of Charles Dickens and transportation to Australia. However, there are some noticeable changes. The story is set in a museum on a island, which has a London-like feel to it. Recent edicts from the king (again different to our history) have impacted many areas of everyday life. Girls are no longer allowed to go to school and women are banned from many professions such as scientists, professors and stonemasons. Instead they are only allowed to work as cleaners, cooks and maids. These laws also prohibit citizens from practising or even mentioning God or religion.

Ree (Maria) Altamira lives on this island with her father. Despite the restrictions, her father has allowed her to secretly disguise herself as a boy and work alongside him as a stonemason- a craft which Ree has a talent for. Events come to a head when one day Ree carves a forbidden item into the design she is working on. While these events are occuring, Henri Volp, a gifted scholar with an interest in forensic science begins to investigate a murder.

As a long time fan of Julia Golding, I enjoy her writing style and this book is no except to that. The prose is well-written and creates a great atmosphere for the story. The inclusion of several animal sidekicks adds humour and lightness to what is quite an oppressive story. I also liked the main character, Ree. She was clever and resourceful as well as showing kindness to others and a wisdom beyond many of those around her. The ideas put forward by this book about the relationship between science and religion were quite interesting and it was novel to see a book where scientific extremism has led to a ban on religion rather than the other way around.

However, I feel that this book was confused about what it wanted its central message to be and as such it was quite a difficult read and left me feeling rather confused. There are 3 main themes in this book: the oppression and unfair treatment of girls and women; the ban on religion and its relationship with science; the mystery element and solving the crimes. It's difficult to say which is the main plot and which are the subplots and it felt like this was too many ideas to fit into one book as they got in the way of each other.

The mystery element definitely suffered the most as despite being called 'The Curious Crime' and despite the blurb mentioning solving murder, this plot doesn't get going until two-thirds of the way into the book. I understand that it was necessary to set the scene and provide background for many suspects having motives for the murders but as the plot was so late in starting, it then ended up being wrapped up too quickly and as a result felt rather unimportant.

Of the other two plots, the unjust treatment of females was handled the best. This had a clear arc and as the main person affected by this plotline was Ree, you were invested in the outcome. The science/religion plot was interesting but also a little confusing. The story states that with the banning of religion, no-one is allowed to ask the question 'Why?' However, this is not strictly true as the many scholars and scientists often ask 'why' questions simply without using the word. In fact, it's difficult to imagine scientific discovery without people posing the question why and going on to investigate it. Instead of 'why' being banned, what has actually been banned is the question, "Why did a greater power create this?" At the end of the story, there is somewhat of a resolution to this plotline.

There was a slight nod to diversity in this book as one of the main characters is from Algeria. However, I don't think it was very successfully done. There is a few mentions of the character being concerned that his appearance might make people prejudice against him but we do not really see any evidence of him being treated badly because of his race. There are also two occasions when characters are shown to not noticed his darker skin (even having to do a double take when it is pointed out) and this is framed as a positive. I think it would have been better if they had noticed what he looked like (he was standing right in front of them, after all!) but it not make a difference to how they treated him, rather than the unrealistic claim that they didn't notice he was a different race.

I think this book could prompt some interesting discussions so there might be some students I would recommend it to. However, I think most would find it too confusing or not engaging enough so it would depend on the interests of the student. I would give this book a reading age of 11+.

Content:
References to dead mother before the book begins
Animal death
Slightly gruesome murders

[Anne]

Almost from the beginning, I kept seeing this story as a movie, something along the lines of Nanny McPhee. It has the adventure of the huge, labyrinth-like museum, the good guys and the villains, the suspense of being in forbidden locations, exotic animals as pets - all those things that keep us turning the pages.

The Museum is the heart of civilization once God and religion are relegated to their proper places (banned), and science has assumed its role as the force that turns the world. The female of the species is to be seen and not heard, cooking and tending to the household chores. Persons of different ethnicities are to be regarded, but with caution. Though this description tends to conjure visions of ninjas in silver-colored uniforms, the setting is actually earlier, before man became enlightened, not after.

Ree, a girl who works as a stonemason (and disguised as a boy) is caught and allowed to be a maid, a lesser penalty than she might have endured had it not been that her father was sentenced to hard labor for allowing her to work in a profession forbidden to women. He received the harsher punishment, enabling her to remain free, yet diminished and vulnerable. Henri, a scholar who is on the cusp of discovering a method for discerning unseen fingerprints, becomes Ree's partner in solving the two crimes committed in the Museum. Their partnership also precipitates the movement of the culture toward a kinder, gentler, and more enlightened age.

It's difficult to tell which is the subplot: Is it is the events that lead to the crimes or is it the question of whether God Is? Very clever to pose such a profound notion in such a seemingly simple plot. Very clever, indeed.

The Curious Crime is an uncomplicated yet interesting story, well worth reading. I enjoyed it. Thanks to Netgalley and Lion Hudson publishers for the advanced copy.

[Ruth Turner]

I love and adore this book...beautifully written and a really thought provoking page turner that makes you stop and think. What would of happened if the past had gone a different way, if people's who's beliefs were different or who were seen as "the weaker sex" were ostracised and the world only belonged to a select few people? I think this book should be a must read for every child in school...it really makes you stop and realise what would happen if you dismissed whole groups of people based on their beliefs or sex. Read this book right now.

[Wensday]

"I so wanted to love this book after seeing the fantastic cover and reading the stories synopsis. Although not a bad book, the storyline did not appeal to me once I got into about a quarter of the story.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review."

[stephven]

!!!! best read of this summer. really intense and some statements are really witty. in the book, ree is determined to ask why but society hinders that question. luckily, she gained friends who seek to make a change in the world. this'll surely keep you guessing about what happens next.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Fern]

I've never read a children's book quite like The Curious Crime. The enticing title and enchanting front cover was enough to grab my attention for this 19th century inspired science fantasy, murder-mystery. But Julia Golding has written a story far more greater than the cover will ever reveal. A story that I believe will inspire and empower readers for years to come.

Set in a wonderfully vast museum, a museum quoted by Golding as 'inspiring possibilities of a Hogwarts, but also a Sherlock Holmes mind palace', The Curious Crime tells the story of Ree, a talented female stonemason, and Henri, a scholar from North Africa, who join together to solve a murder and prove their innocence.

Golding has created an alternative Victorian era, where women are considered to not have the capacity to practice science, and where religious thoughts and beliefs have been deemed incompatible with science. The concept of theophily is banned, whilst phrenology is a respected and valid theory, and students are only taught to ask 'how', and the root of 'why' is forbidden. But within this magnificent museum the story of science is mapped out through its open rooms and abandoned chambers, exotic (but now sadly extinct) animals roam the corridors, and an underground network of passages lead to hidden yet exciting possibilities.

Golding has created a fantastically gripping story about curiosity, gender, prejudice, ambition and murder! It's a must read for those who enjoy adventures and mysteries with a splash of alternate history (think Robin Stevens, Emma Carroll and Katherine Woodfine) but also for more mature readers who enjoy tackling bigger questions, like how faith and religion can coexist with science and looking at women and ethnic minorities in scientific positions.

[Ravenclaw Library Books]

The alternate world that Ree and Henri populate with the struggles of science and religious belief warring is an interesting one. Although not a bad book, the storyline did not appeal to me.

So, perhaps The Curious Crime simply wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lion Hudson Ltd and Julia Golding for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Maribel]

An okay mystery/ crime book with an interesting premise. The alternate world that Ree and Henri populate with the struggles of science and religious belief warring is an interesting one. I just think in trying to create a discussion on the roles of science and religion and the fact that they can co-exist ( not a common thought, but still a reasonable one) takes a toll on the complexity of the mystery involved. It also renders some characters as stock characters. This is not an awful book, but is is not also a great one.

[Heather Gadd]

Everything about this book was fantastic. I can imagine my middle school self, holing up in my bedroom for hours devouring its pages. It conjures up the best of books in similar genres, the museum is just as mysterious and vast as Hogwarts. The animal companions read like the daemons in The Golden Compass. However, this story lends a credible note as it doesn’t deal with magic, but is more of an alternate reality with a dystopian twist.

Each and every character, including the furry and feathered ones, are brought to life with vivid detail. Ree, spunky and independent female lead character in a male dominated world speaks to “girl power” without the disrespect that often accompanies that attitude. Henri, the perfect level-headed complement to Ree, is intelligent and thoughtful, a voice of reason in a world of pseudo-science. The menagerie of now extinct animals gives the entire tale a humorous element, Phil the Dodo my obvious favorite. I can just imagine his playful nips and smell the down as he ruffles his feathers.

The wide range of topics touched on by this story are made age appropriate and easy to understand, while remaining true to the message. Finding a harmonious balance between science and religion is something we’re made to face early on in life, and the author is successful in finding a middle ground that is neither blasphemous or offensive. Focusing on the respecting of other’s values, the equality of intellects and abilities between men and women, and the importance of every profession, whether menial or cerebral, artistic or everyday maintenance. All points are dealt with gracefully and playfully, without malice or contempt.

Kudos to this author for creating a masterpiece of humor and depth for the middle school set. It’s an intelligent addition to a market often saturated with twaddle.