The Sinclair Mysteries: A Clockwork Sparrow (Book 1)

"The Clockwork Sparrow is the first in the series, and that’s where any new reader should start. Sophie is 14 years old, and her family’s fallen on hard times. She’s forced to go out and go to work, so she finds a job in Sinclair’s Department Store in the centre of London. The series is set in Edwardian times—early twentieth century—and Sinclair’s is the kind of department store that was very new and exciting at the time. It’s based on Selfridges, an emporium where you could find anything and buy anything. When Sophie arrives, she meets a lot of interesting people who become her friends, but she also stumbles upon a mystery. Sinclair’s is hosting an exhibition of a beautiful artefact called the Clockwork Sparrow, and while the exhibition’s going on, the sparrow is stolen. Sophie and her friends need to work out what has happened to the sparrow and get it back—and in doing so, they meet a very dangerous underworld figure who has it in for Sophie . . . Everything is described so beautifully, it’s just a rich, gorgeous world. The Sinclair’s Mysteries are mystery stories, but they also very much exciting adventure stories. They remind me a bit of Philip Pullmans’ Sally Lockhart books , where people are running around London, outwitting mysterious, villainous figures."