The Grinning Throat (The Mudlark Mysteries)
Joe and Edie are poor children who have become Mudlarks, or scavengers for saleable detritus from the Thames river mud, a real occupation for the poorest children of Victorian London. On one of their mudlarking expeditions, they find a corpse. This corpse is of the bodyguard of an obscure European princess who has since been kidnapped. How can the Mudlarks prove their innocence of the murder and rescue the princess before she herself is killed for ransom? Thus ensues a thrilling chase to uncover the clues and avoid being ensnared by the dastardly Mr. Hempson, who usually buys the children’s finds at unfair prices and treats them cruelly.
This novel is a compulsive page-turner. Wiseman has created characters with whom we are deeply sympathetic through her detailed descriptions of the heinous conditions in which they must live. There is also a strong theme of friendship in adversity which further endears them to us. There is a plot twist at the end which may shock many readers and will encourage the belief that not everyone is as they seem. This is the first in a series of adventures. I eagerly await the next one.
