In Myrtle Peril–Elizabeth C. Bunce’s Edgar Award-winning mystery series continues this week

A missing heiress lost at sea! A murder in plain sight that has no apparent victim! With stakes this high, is amateur detective Myrtle Hardcastle finally In Myrtle Peril? The latest thrilling installment in Elizabeth C. Bunce‘s Edgar®-Award-winning, and multiple Agatha- and Anthony-award-nominated Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery series arrives along with the paperback edition of the third volume, Cold-Blooded Myrtle, at all good bookstores tomorrow, and both are available for pre-order today here at Amazon. The critically acclaimed mystery series featuring everyone’s favorite Victorian Amateur Detective and Young Lady of Quality was named a best-of by Amazon, BookPage, and A Mighty Girl and received an Edgar® Award in 2021 and a 2022 nomination.

When a mysterious girl attempts to stake her claim to the Snowcroft family fortune, Myrtle Hardcastle’s father, a lawyer, is asked to help prove—or disprove—the girl’s identity. Is this truly Ethel Snowcroft, believed to be lost at sea with her parents, or a con artist chasing a windfall? Mr. Hardcastle’s pursuit of the case takes a detour when he’s hospitalized for a tonsillectomy—only to witness a murder. Or does he? With no body at the scene, Myrtle and her governess, Miss Judson, fear the so-called murder was a feverish delusion—until a critical piece of evidence appears. But where’s the victim? And who at the hospital could be harboring murderous intent? Myrtle is determined to find out before the killer comes after her father. With stakes this high, her sleuthing has put Myrtle, her family, and the patients and staff at the Royal Swinburne Hospital In Myrtle Peril.

Industry reviewer Kirkus has already awarded Volume 4, In Myrtle Peril a starred review, saying, “Another thrilling mystery from our young Victorian sleuth… The mystery as a whole is charming. How can it be otherwise when solved by “a cat, a dog, two doctors, a journalist on crutches, an unemployed law clerk, a solicitor in pyjamas, a nurse with a cricket bat, a governess, an off-duty housekeeper, and one small frantic Investigator”? Enthusiastically, chaotically delightful.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

My wife, borg contributor, and Edgar Award-winning author Elizabeth C. Bunce has been writing her Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery Series for a few years now. Prompted by a quick mis-utterance of “premeditated murder” and a chatty cat that showed up one night in the rain, a character and an idea took hold and before we knew it she had created and sold the first five books in a new series of mystery novels. The first book, Premeditated Myrtle, an Indie Next Pick named to Amazon’s Top 20 Children’s Books of 2020, arrived in bookstores in 2020 along with the second installment, How to Get Away with Myrtle, a #1 Amazon New Release. Not only did Premeditated Myrtle win the 2020 Edgar Award (the Mystery Writers of America award recognizing the mystery, crime, suspense, and intrigue genres, in its 75th year), it was named an Honor Book by the 106 years and counting Society for Midland Authors, it was named to the Library of Congress’s annual Great Reads from Great Places list, and it was nominated for the Agatha Award and Anthony Award. Last year Myrtle’s third sleuthing adventure in Cold-Blooded Myrtle arrived as an Edgar Award, Agatha Award, and Anthony Award finalist–as well as a Silver Falchion Award finalist.

Publishers Weekly referred to the Myrtle Hardcastle mystery series as “the best thing to happen to youth mysteries since Trixie Belden.” The Wall Street Journal said “Younger Holmes fans (and older ones too) should be charmed by Elizabeth C. Bunce’s Cold-Blooded Myrtle.” The Buffalo News called Premeditated Myrtle a “hugely entertaining, well-crafted Victorian whodunnit.” The Kansas City Star called Premeditated Myrtle “loaded with energy that propels the reader forward in the tradition of all the most addictive of children’s books mysteries.”

Elizabeth will be appearing at several virtual events and book signings this month across the U.S. Check out Elizabeth’s reviews of books, TV, and movies at borg here. The Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery Series is published by Algonquin Young Readers, a division of Workman Publishing Company and Hachette Publishing. Artwork and design for the series is created by Brett Helquist (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Laura Williams, and Carla Weise. Premeditated Myrtle and How to Get Away with Myrtle are available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook. Cold-Blooded Myrtle is available in hardcover, audiobook, ebook, and this week its available in paperback. And, finally, In Myrtle Peril is available tomorrow in hardcover and eBook. All books are also available in audiobook, performed brilliantly by actress Bethan Rose Young (Knightfall, High Seas).