Miss Penny Dreadful and the Malicious Maze by Allison Rushby

Title: Miss Penny Dreadful and the Malicious Maze

Author: Allison Rushby

Genre: Mystery/Historical Fiction

Publisher: Walker Books

Published: 5^th April 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 144

Price: $15.99

Synopsis: The second book in a mystical and adventurous junior fiction series from acclaimed author Allison Rushby.
‘Penny had only set one foot inside the drawing room when she halted, sucking her breath in. “Aunt Harriet, I think we need to call the police.”’

1872

From the moment Penny steps into her family’s Hyde Park Square townhouse, she can sense something dreadful has happened. This is confirmed when she discovers her parents’ laboratory in terrible disarray. Before she can find out any more, Penny is whisked away with her authoress aunt to Harewood Hall in the countryside, where a malicious maze is rumoured to be gobbling up servants. Miss Penny Dreadful has yet another mystery to solve. And nothing, absolutely nothing, is as it seems!

~*~

Miss Penny Dreadful has been living with her Aunt Harriet since she was whisked away from her boarding school after the disappearance of her parents. First, they investigated the kittens that came alive at midnight, and now, they have been called to Harewood Hall in the countryside by her aunt’s friend, Sir Forthergill, and they are accompanied by the ever-suspicious Mr Crowley on their trip. They set off to find out where all the servants of Harewood Hall are disappearing to, because the rumours are that they are going into the maze but never coming out. But there is more to their disappearances than meets the eye – and it might not be the maze. So Penny sets out to find out what has really happened to the servants – and see if she can help Mrs Nightingale, the housekeeper, solve the mystery as well.

Penny’s second adventure and mystery takes place a few days or weeks after her last mystery about the museum kittens that came to life at midnight. We are flung right into the mystery and setting – a good start, as we know the characters of Penny, Aunt Harriet, Jones the monkey and the sinister Mr Crowley, whom Penny doesn’t really trust, and I have to say, I agree with her. Something about him doesn’t sit right, and as the ongoing mystery of what has happened to Penny’s parents in Switzerland is threaded throughout, I am starting to wonder if he has had something to do with it, as he never seems to want Penny around. Perhaps he knows she doesn’t think much of him or suspects him of something – she’s very intuitive and this is a great characteristic for a detective to have.

I’ve always loved mysteries – from the Famous Five, to the Teen Power Inc books by Emily Rodda, and as an adult, emerging into crime fiction from many authors, but any book that has a mystery within is good. And this is where I am enjoying reading the kids’ books coming out in the mystery genre – they remind me of where my love for mystery stories started, they’re new and fresh takes on the genre that will suit a broad audience, because there will be mystery stories for everyone to enjoy, and finally, they’re just loads of fun to read – whatever the genre they fall into and for me, whichever age group they’re aimed at. Of course, I have favourites, and Miss Penny Dreadful is one of those, because it is the kind of mystery series I would have loved to read growing up.

One of the things I love about this series is that it is fast-paced – it gets right to the point and engages children – and indeed all readers – eloquently and easily. I also love that amidst the loud kids who partake in activities like sports, we get quieter characters like Penny – because allowing kids to see interests of all kinds represented is fun and shows that there many things that they can do – they don’t have to do one thing just so that they can fit in. And in this female-driven world and story, showing kids that girls can do anything – and also in a world where there were distinct ideas about gender and class that Allison does explore through the characters at Harewood Hall – is powerful because it shows that there were always women pushing the boundaries and ignoring convention. The driving force in these books is Penny and her ability to solve the mysteries and the clever ways she goes about it, such as finding out what has happened to the servants, and how to solve the problem – illustrating clever problem-solving skills in an exciting and accessible way.

The story is utterly engaging, and I think fits perfectly in the 1872 setting, as the characters are very well written and fit the story. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this book, and I think that this series is one that I think will become popular, and I hope starts to build a good following. Penny’s growth over the books is good, and I love the ongoing mystery about her parents – I feel like this theme will be ongoing until the end of the series, when we hopefully find out what has happened to her parents. This ensures that there is something to keep coming back for, as well as the characters and quirky mysteries and people that Penny is going to be encountering. At the end of each book, I am keen to find out what happens next, so I am looking forward to the third book when it comes out.