A Spy in the House (The Agency #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

May 22, 2016 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery, young-adult, era-victorian

3-1/2 stars, rounded up to 4.

This book surprised me by being solidly YA. I like reading YA, but I was expecting something more complex and nuanced than what I got. The bad guy was immediately obvious to me, and Mary didn't even consider the possibility until page 303 or so; as a result, she didn't seem terribly clever. But okay, this is YA so the plot is a bit simpler, and this was Mary's first mission (but far from my first mystery novel), so that all fits. I'm not usually one to cry "argh! An ...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Kiri rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-read-2010-2019, mystery, young_adult-children, historical-fiction, reviewed

A nice little young-adult mystery with a healthy dollop of teen-ish romance. It evokes the period but mostly uses the mores of the modern world. The premise and set-up for the story is really good, but the story doesn't quite follow through on the promised quality of it. Considering this is aimed at the young-adult crowd that is not a detractor - merely a note of caution for adult readers. The heroine has much to offer as she is developed in the literary sense. As the start of a new ...more

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Nov 19, 2020 Andrea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fun-mysteries, young-adult-mystery

Mary Quinn, orphan in Victorian London, lives as a thief until she is caught and sentenced to hang. She is rescued from the gallows by a representative of Miss Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls. Mary does well in school but a few years later, she is bored with respectable life as an apprentice teacher at Miss Scrimshaw’s. That is when she finds herself recruited by The Agency, a detective agency founded and run by women that operates discreetly to gather information for Scotland Yard. Exciting actio ...more

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