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This is one of the Sparks series of stories linking with the History National Curriculum Key Stage 2.
Annie and Ethel are friends. They both work for Mrs Baggs, the bonnet maker. Annie was brought up in the country but now she is staying in London with her aunt and uncle. Annie is homesick and wishes she could return to Kent. Ethel's father is a policeman. His beat is in Belgravia - where there has recently been a spate of robberies. He has been hoping for promotion and a much needed pay rise but his detective inspector has just told him that if there is one more unsolved burglary he can say good-bye to his promotion and pay rise.
Annie is not only homesick. She is also unhappy and frightened. Her aunt is often drunk on gin. There is a forbidden room in the house. There are fearful happenings at night when her aunt has a visit from an evil looking man.
Then Annie discovers a pile of newspapers in Mrs Bagg's parlour. Each newspaper has a story about a fashionable London house and the people who live there. Meanwhile Ethel delivers a bonnet to Lady Eloise of Belgravia and is attracted by a small silver statue of a swallow.
When Lady Eloise is burglared Annie and Ethel realise the full significance of what they have seen.
About 4,000 words long, this is actually a Victorian mystery story in miniature. It is a good story and an excellent introduction to historical fiction for young children. Despite the constraints of the length the characters do come alive.
Included are notes on the London Police Force, child labour, the dress code and Covent Garden.
7-11
This book is approximately 10,000 words long. It is for Key Stage Two readers.
This book reads like a short novel of nineteenth century London but it is actually a factual account of the work of the Bow Street Runner Henry Goddard. All the cases in the book are real and are described by Henry Goddard himself in his "Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner." There is a note at the back describing the creation of Sir Robert Peel's new police force and the dissolution of the Bow Street Runners. There is also a section on police museums.
This book throws light on crime and punishment and the creation of the modern police force.
7-11