I spend four or five days on this book, setting aside a fair amount of time every day. Premeditated Myrtle actually took me longer than I expected to read, but I didn’t mind. But once I was able to get to know the characters a little better, and to better grasp the setting and what was going on, the rest of the book flew by! I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, and what was happening. The first part of the book did start off a little slow, however. The way that we followed her through her investigation in the book was interesting and easy enough to understand. She was always curious, and always searching for answer.

Myrtle was an excellent protaganist, and I loved reading from her perspective. This does not affect my opinion and my review.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher, Algonquin books, in exchange for an honest review.

With her unflappable governess, Miss Ada Judson, by her side, Myrtle takes it upon herself to prove Miss Wodehouse was murdered and find the killer, even if nobody else believes her - not even her father, the town prosecutor. When her next-door neighbor, a wealthy spinster and eccentric breeder of rare flowers, dies under Mysterious Circumstances, Myrtle seizes her chance. Armed with her father’s law books and her mum’s microscope, Myrtle studies toxicology, keeps abreast of the latest developments in crime scene analysis, and Observes her neighbors in the quiet village of Swinburne, England. Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle has a passion for justice and a Highly Unconventional obsession with criminal science.

StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce