The Ruby in the Smoke
(A Sally Lockhart Mystery)
by Philip Pullman
★★★★
Sally is a teenage girl living in Victorian England when her father dies unexpectedly. A mysterious letter leads her to believe he was murdered and she begins to search for the truth.
This mystery has a very Dickensian feel to it. Orphaned girl, villains after her, paths crossing with interesting people from all walks of life; add 300 pages and it might have been mistaken for a female version of Oliver Twist.
Sally herself is pretty fantastic. She smart, logical and has a wonderful mind for business. She also refuses to shy away from danger or to get caught up in the petty deceptions of others. When faced with the prospect of living with an awful, controlling woman or heading out into the unknown, she doesn’t hesitant to walk out the door.
I don’t know if I’ll continue to read the rest of the books in the series. I enjoyed the first one, but it provides closure and I’m not dying to continue. I do wish I’d read the series when I was younger. I probably would have loved them.
