Recent Reads: The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine 
Series: The Sinclair's Mysteries #1
Publisher: Kane Miller EDC Publishing
Publication Date:  March 1, 2017 

 

Format: Paperback
Source: Bought/Own

Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: 

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow follows the adventures of recently orphaned fourteen-year-old Sophie, a shop girl at the newly opened Sinclair’s Department Store in London. Just as she’s settling into her new life, a priceless object is stolen, a young man is attacked and Sophie is implicated in the crime

Review: 

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow is a series that follows Sophie, a young woman that works in a department store as she must solve a crime in order to clear her name. 

Sophie is just getting started out in the world and has landed a job in the hat department of the newest store in town, Sinclair's. It is so new that it hasn;t even opened yet. Slated to be the most luxourious and interesting department store, it even has an exhibition hall where Mr. Sinclair has some very beautiful pieces on view. Then a bunch of it goes missing the night before the grand opening and Sophis is accused of being a part of the robbery. What else is she to do but pull in her friends and solve the crime?

Sophie feels really dainty as I read her character, so I am surprised that she was able to pull this off. She just read as if she was emotional and not too bright at times. I am not sure if that was me or the time period of the book, or the character. There was also Lil, an actress and model for the store, and she was over the top and often overshadowed Sophie as the main character. Billy, was a porter for the store and in comparison to the ladies he seemed really young, so it was hard to get a grasp on age-ranges and differences if there were any. Interestingly enough, I found the descriptions pf the store to be fantastic, but the characters were left behind a little to the store's grandeur. 

As for the plot, I found the story interesting and I enjoy a good mystery, but part of what I like about them is trying to figure out the clues and puzzles with the characters and this book gave little to none of that as an option. A clue would be found and immediately it would be solved by someone without much thought. The story was a little slow in the first having, being mostly build up and descriptions, but then around the half-way point picked up and was a swift mystery solve. 

I am not sure if I need to pick up any more books in this series, and for now I will hold off. But, if you are looking for a mystery, with not a lot of pondering over the clues, this might be for you. It is also the first in a series, but can be read as a stand-alone as they seem to be seperate mysteries.