Alice England lives in a house that is part of a funeral home. Her dad Thaddeus is the owner of Tranquillity Funerals. Alice is twelve years old but she is able to work as his assistant. Alice was born a twin but her sister had already died before their birth. Alice, herself, has weak leg because the umbilical cord cut off the circulation in the womb and her leg was not able to develop properly. Alice is often in pain and this reminded me of another book I read recently - The Great Fox Illusion by Justyn Edwards. Alice has one special gift. when she holds objects owned by dead people in the funeral home she can sometimes feel or "see" parts of their previous life - the objects are resonant.
This is why Alice is desperate to find out the truth about George Devenish. He has died just after sunrise down near the docks where he works as a night watchman. George always works through the night but on the day of his death his skin has been exposed to light. George is the uncle of Violet and Violet now sits with Alice at lunch time. Violet, her brother, father and uncle suffer from Solar Urticaria - an allergy to sunlight. You are probably thinking that this allergy has just been invented by Ash Harrier but it has not. In fact the daughter of a teacher at my former school has this terrible affliction.
Solar Urticaria: Sufferers develop hives, which are very itchy circular bumps, within 5 to 10 min of exposure to light. Hives usually develop on areas that are directly exposed to the sun, such as the face and hands. Solar urticaria happens because the immune system overreacts to light, treating it as an invader In very rare cases it can cause anaphylaxis and even death.
Outside of her own home Violet has to wear long sleeves, long pants, gloves and a hat with a shade-cloth veil which covers her face. Inside her own home all the windows are covered and the light is artificial not UVB. UVB is the light that comes from the sun. Candlelight is safe and so is firelight.
Reading this book is such a rich experience as Ash Harrier weaves in so many details especially about the lives of Alice and her new friend Violet. The story contains a tiny touch of magical realism and this adds a delicious layer to the mystery.
Ash Harrier also fills her book with utterly delicious words which are mostly uttered by Alice who has a delightful adult-like mode of speech no doubt acquired from listening to her dad at the funeral home. Here are some of the rich words you will find in this book - shenanigans; tact; underhanded; lax; obnoxious; collate; unbeknownst; pensively; ludicrous; bemusement; soiree; infiltrating; fraternise; intrude; umbrage; endearment; and discombobulate.
I have been grabbing minutes over the last few days so I could keep reading this terrific book. It took great restraint on my part not to jump to the end to discover the truth about the death of George Devenish. I did eventually guess aspects of the ending but not until chapter 24 (out of 27 chapters in total) and then I could see how skilfully Ash Harrier had laid down all the clues but as with the way of all good mysteries/crime thrillers - every person we meet seems to be a plausible suspect until the final scene when all is revealed.
This book is a terrific detective mystery that will be enjoyed by readers aged 10+. It is a new Australian children's book published by Pantera Press and will be available in August, 2022. Thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance copy. I am a CBCA Book of the Year judge but not for the Younger Readers category so I am going to say I do hope the publisher enters this book for the 2023 awards because I am going to predict it will most certainly be a 2023 Notable title and perhaps even reach the shortlist of six. The Deadly Daylight seems to the first in a planned series called The Alice England Mysteries.
Publisher blurb: Twelve-year-old Alice England is curious, truthful and smart, but when you work in your father’s funeral home and you get messages from the dead, it can be difficult to make friends. When she comes across the peculiar case of George Devenish, who was allergic to sunlight, Alice is convinced there’s more to his death than meets the eye. With the help of George’s niece, ‘Violet the Vampire’, who shares her uncle’s allergy, and a boy named Cal, who has secrets of his own, Alice begins to investigate. Who were the teenagers under the dock when George died? How is the sinister Doctor Grampian involved? And what about George’s wife, Helen, whose baking is delicious but possibly poisonous? It seems the truth of George’s death may never see the light of day – unless Alice and her companions can put the clues together and solve a mystery much bigger than anybody expected.
One slightly quirky aspect of this story that I really enjoyed was when Alice imaged perfect coffins for other people. If the idea of a child making coffins is of interest I also recommend this very different but also very moving Canadian book - here are two different covers:
No comments:
Post a Comment