Book Description
Meet thirteen-year-old Mary Finch – a bold, determined heroine, and the star of a stylish new detective series. Perfect for fans of classic crime fiction.
Mary Finch and the Thief is the first in the Mary Finch Mystery series. It is 1893 and Mary Finch finds herself on the gritty and violent streets of Victorian London trying to clear her name.
When wrongfully accused of theft, Mary Finch is determined to track down the thief and prove her innocence. Her journey takes her from Baker Street, where her friends, the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, live, to the dark and dangerous East End of London. On her trail are the suspicious Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard, the evil butler of her employer, a mysterious gentleman who is not what he appears to be and a ruthless killer. Mary must hurry to find the truth before she is arrested and sent to jail.
Mary Finch continues her investigations in S S Saywack’s Mary Finch and the Grey Lady, Mary Finch and the Spy, and Mary Finch Endgame, and the chapter book, Mary Finch Runaway.
BOOK REVIEW
Review for 'Mary Finch And The Thief' by S S Saywack.
Read and reviewed for S S Saywack.
Publication date 6th March 2021.
This is the the first book I have read by this author but it most certainly won't be my last!! It is also the first book in the 'Mary Finch Mystery' series.
I was originally drawn to this book by its fantastic eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. I was also intrigued to read about a detective that is so young!!
This novel consists of 29 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is based in London, England 🏴, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture. I have actually visited and had holidays in England on several occasions so am looking forward to seeing if I recognise anywhere that Verity has based the book on.
This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonist is Mary Finch. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO S S SAYWACK ON AN ABSOLUTELY ADDICTIVELY PAGE TURNING COSY MYSTERY.
AN absolutely successful unputdownable cosy mystery by the very talented S S Saywack. I'm always a bit dubious with books based historically as I worry about not being able to 'deal' with the language used but I absolutely love how Shiv Saywack has written his book. The language used is perfectly suited to the era whilst being easy to read and making it quite humorous on several occasions. The atmosphere and descriptions were perfect. The synopsis and cover also suit the storyline.
The storyline had me hooked immediately and I love the way that Mary and Archie about their detective work. There was just so much about this book that I found unique and that I absolutely loved!!! The fact that Mary is just 13 years old and is chasing thief's and murderers along with being friendly with Sherlock Holmes and Detective Watson is absolutely brilliant and really brings the story alive. There was so much going on that it kept me entertained thoroughly throughout with mystery after mystery and clue after clue. It was filled with suspense, mystery, friendship, murder, clues, deceit. tension, suspense and so much more!! It is absolutely perfect to read either curled in front of the fire or lying on a beach which not many books can achieve. The atmosphere was perfectly suited to the mystery especially being set around the same time that Jack the Ripper was haunting the streets of London. Shiv manages to perfectly capture the streets of London and the poverty that over ran the streets at the time and made the images absolutely shine through his words. I was transported to the streets where I could see the smog and taste the pies in Archimedes Dibble's pie shop. It is advertised as having a suitable reading age of 11 to 18 but as a 36 year old I absolutely loved it and I would say that my almost 10 year old son would also enjoy it so would say it is great for anyone age 10 years and older. The fact that Mary is only a child herself would help attract this book to the younger generations. I was absolutely hooked throughout and I am looking forward to getting stuck into more books in what promises to be an explosive series!!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading S S Saywack’s historical author notes that he includes at the back of the book so ensure you don't forget to read those. I love learning about history so was fascinated by the information he includes in the historical notes about:
*Scullery Maids
*Penny Dreadfuls
*Jack The Ripper
*Charles Augustus Milverton
*Inspector Lestrade
*Old Money
Thank you Shiv for including these, I learnt quite a few facts that I had no idea about previously.
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but also any characters that may make repeat appearances during the series too.
The characters were all larger than life, realistic and a complete breathe of fresh air. Mary is an amazing character, very bubbly with a huge attitude but a heart of gold and certainly not your typical detective, she is absolutely unique as well as a very strong female lead which is a great bonus for myself being female. I absolutely adore her relationship with Archie along with the rest of her "family". The only downfall is that herself and Archie are fictional as these are two characters I would absolutely LOVE to meet in real life!! Archie is absolutely fantastic and I really enjoy how it is so sweet how he has taken Mary under his wing. They are the perfect detective duo and ai am looking forward to seeing them work together (hopefully) in the next adventure that is 'Mary Finch And The Grey Lady'. I wasn't a huge fan of Ella for allowing Mary to take the blame but at the same time I did feel sorry for her and she did redeem herself at the end. I loved Grandma and and Grandpa Dibble who were both so sweet and caring and I thought Sossie and Dot were sweet and I am looking forward to meeting them all again. I am also looking forward to meeting Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson more as, although we only briefly meet them in this book, I am intrigued to get to know them more as I've never actually read any of the Sherlock Holes books although this has tempted me to give them a go along with 'The Adventure Of Charles Augustus Milverton' that S S Sawack recommends. I also enjoyed meeting most of the characters although I can't say all, e.g the Grimwigs, Mr Boots, Constable O Connor and a few others. However, regardless of of you love them or hate them they all worked perfectly to make this such an explosive start to a promising series I cannot wait to meet them all again and see what they get up to in the next "episode".
If you are looking for a cosy and exolosive start to what promises to be an addictive series that will keep you absolutely hooked then look no further!!!
Welcome to my favourite author Club S S Saywack! A page turning and unputdownable success! Here's to your next success 🥂!!
Overall an easy to read, explosive beginning to a new series and a page turning and addictive cozy murder mystery that will keep you up late at night.
Genres covered in this novel include Cozy Mystery, Historical Mystery, Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction, Mysteries and Detective Stories For Children, Children, Teen, Murder, Classic Crime Fiction, Suspense, Young Adult, Mystery, Children's Mysteries And Detectives, and Crime amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of T E Kinsey, Agatha Christie, Lee Strauss, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle and anyone looking for an addictive and page turning murder mystery.
256 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free on kindle unlimited and £6.99 on paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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@MaryFinchAndTheThief @SSSaywack @MaryFinchMystery @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86 @Goodreads
Author Bio
S S Saywack is the author of the Mary Finch Mysteries. This comprises four novels and a small prologue: Mary Finch and the Thief, Mary Finch and the Grey Lady, Mary Finch and the Spy, Mary Finch Endgame and Mary Finch, a Prologue. After a career as a Graphic Designer, then an art teacher, he took to writing short stories, flash fiction and novels for middle-grade readers. He has a love of history - Victorian England and the early twentieth century, playing the guitar and is an avid reader of all types of fiction. He lives in the East End of London, a place well suited for his creation, Mary Finch, to explore and to have her adventures.
Find him on the web: https://saywackwrites.com
Purchase Link
Read A Sample Here: https://read.amazon.co.uk/sample/B08XPNZ8VN?f=1&l=en_GB&r=40051448&rid=9TEDXG3WP675BB6F67VR&sid=261-1033689-8067944&cid=A3VYTMKELJ2MP&ref_=litb_m
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