Secrets at No.6 is the first book in the brand new Mysterious Mansions Series by Jemma Hatt and I couldn’t be more excited to share my review with you today. It’s a fantastic new Middle Grade (MG, ages 8-12) book that will appeal to all ages!
Title: Secrets at No.6
Author: Jemma Hatt
Series: Mysterious Mansions #1
First Published: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Elmside Publishing
Genres: Middle Grade, Mystery
Acquired: from the author
*** Thank you to the author, Jemma Hatt, for providing me with an e-copy of this book exchange for an unbiased review. ***
Edwardian London, a forbidden friendship and a house filled with secrets …
A robbery rocks the entire household of No.6, and everyone is a suspect. Twelve-year-old trainee housemaid Alice and reclusive young aristocrat Theo are determined to solve the case. As they investigate upstairs and downstairs to track down the culprit, the mystery deepens and danger looms closer. Join them in an adventure spanning the grand streets of Belgravia to the Docklands of the East End in their headlong race to uncover the truth.
Some wonderful new characters
I’m already a huge fan of Jemma’s The Adventurers series (click here to see my review of books in that series) so when she announced she had a new series on the way, I couldn’t wait to see what it was about.
And OMG – an MG mystery adventure series set in Edwardian London? Yes please!
There’s a large cast of characters from the start, which can be a little daunting, especially for younger children, but it’s made easier by the fact that there’s a visual guide at the start of the book with both the “Upstairs” family, and the “Downstairs” staff. There is such a wide variety of characters that I think kids will definitely find a few favourites outside the main pair. There’s the kindly cook Mrs. Dell, Ethel the kitchenmaid, and Theo’s suffragette sister Kitty.
Speaking of the two main characters – Alice and Theo – it’s hard not to like them. They’re both curious, fair-minded, loyal, and they both are out to prove their worth to their families. Their differences are illustrated by the things they worry about – Theo wants to please his demanding father and Alice wants to just stay employed. They both find it unfair to conform the norms of the time – servants should be “invisible” and the Upstairs shouldn’t mix with the Downstairs. I love their friendship and that they don’t care about class rules. I can definitely see them getting into a lot of adventures together (along with their newly acquired East End friends).
A fun start to a new series
As with many MG books, the characters can get into some crazy scapes so you do need to suspend belief for a bit but it is so worth it! As much as I adore the gang from The Adventurers, I have a feeling this series is going to become my favourite.
Many of the characters, not just Alice and Theo, have already been given some interesting backstories, and I hope we learn more about the family and staff as the series progresses. There’s so much that can be done with just the family and staff that it’s going to be very fun to see how things develop.
The fast-paced action and interesting characters will keep readers of any age engaged and I think it would be a fun introduction to Edwardian England and historical fiction for younger readers.
Special mention to Andrew Smith who always does a fantastic job on Jemma’s book covers. This one was no exception, plus I loved the addition of his portraits of the family and staff who take part in this story.
Quote from Secrets at No.6
