The Case of the Missing Moonstone by Jordan Stratford Review

Reviewed by Jolene Keddy

This is a story about two girls who decide to form a detective agency, however they aren’t two ordinary girls. This was really clever of the author, he chose two well know heroines of around the same era to become friends. Ada Byron who has been called the world’s first computer programmer and Mary Shelly, the world’s first science fiction author. What I think is really great about this is that they are the first, not the first women to do something but the first person to do something. It was also a time when doing anything other than being respectable ladies was looked down upon so for them to do something so amazing is inspirational. This is why it is great to introduce these two women to young audiences and in a very entertaining way. How Jordan Stratford has written the two girls also puts empathise on how being different and clever is a good thing. Ada is extremely clever and very focus on her work but struggles with social niceties and reading people. This character will of course identify with many people on the autistic spectrum and is an example of how many people with this type of personality have furthered science. Mary’s character shows interest in everything and especially in the different, for that alone she is a fantastic character.

The book itself is very well written for the age group it is aimed at, it is engaging and a great start to what I believe is a series of Wollstonecraft detective agency books. At the end of the novel the sisters of both girls are introduced with the indication that they will be more books. It is a little bit like a young girl’s version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Both very clever, one more so than the other and one more socially awkward than the other.

I would highly recommend anyone with girls around the age of nine to buy this book, it opens up a world that isn’t about the way you look and celebrates intelligence and success in women.

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: £9.99 (Hardback)

Available to buy from Amazon here.