1. Christopher Edge enchants the reader with this engaging fictitious historical mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Black Crow Conspiracy. I am eleven years old and feel this is an ideal and inspiring adventure story for children of a similar age. It most certainly has the ability to stimulate both historical and scientific interest. I found myself unable to resist further research into this era, with a particular focus on King Edward V11 and especially into the works of the scientists of this time.

The Black Crow Conspiracy takes us to the dark, gloomy days of London in 1902. The central character, 15 year old Penelope Tredwell, is the secret writer of the stories published in The Penny Dreadful. These captivating tales are believed to be the works of author Montgomery Flinch. Penelope finds herself struggling to think of a new plot for the next story, so she decides to involve the public by way of a competition, seeking for a fresh and exciting idea to feature in the upcoming edition. Penny knew ‘the theft of the Crown Jewels by the thief who wasn't there', would be a bestseller. However she was completely unaware that the idea for this diabolical crime, sent to her from ‘the Black Crow' himself, was actually a confession! When Montgomery Flinch is wrongly accused of committing this treasonous crime and is subsequently arrested, Christopher Edge keeps us eagerly turning the pages, following courageous Penelope's dangerous quest to uncover the real Black Crow.

The Crown Jewels are stolen in the first chapter of the book and I therefore found myself gripped from the outset. There is certainly no delay in the introduction of this exciting mystery and from the beginning I shared the same curiosity as Penelope to unearth the impossible explanation.

Christopher Edge cleverly bases his story around real historical events and incorporates famous and notable figures that all lived during this time period. Author Arthur Conan Doyle and scientists such as Marie Curie, Rontgen and Rutherford all feature in this intriguing mystery. Their inclusion inspired me to research with great interest into their scientific theories and discoveries.

In fact, one of my favourite parts of The Black Crow Conspiracy is when Penelope finds herself in such a predicament, surrounded in a meeting room with the scientists, each one believing her to be Marie Curie! I had to admire her nerve as I cannot think I would have been as brave in the same situation. Just fifteen years old and hoping to convince the gathering that I was a thirty-five year old famous scientist!

Similarly, when we read of the public being informed of the postponement of King Edward V11 Coronation due to illness, I was curious to find whether this had indeed been the case. Of course, in The Black Crow Conspiracy, there is a more sinister reason for the postponement, with the excuse of illness concealing the ‘truth'. As expected, I found the Coronation had been rescheduled from June to a later date in August 1902. For a split second you cannot help but wonder if there really had been a cover-up at that time, and that Christopher Edge knew the true story!

Throughout the book we gain a strong sense of what period the tale is set in by the use of historical terminology. We read about hansom cabs travelling across cobbled streets, with flickering streetlamps. Bedlam is mentioned, which I found was referring to the hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem in London, which was used as an asylum for the insane. There are also hints of World War 1 approaching. I discovered with interest that the War started just four years after the death of King Edward V11.

Penelope Tredwell is my favourite character. I admire Penelope because although in 1902 prejudice and discrimination against women was extreme, she is an exceptionally intrepid, dauntless and courageous female. Smart and quick thinking, confident and persuasive, Penelope is a strong and inspirational lead character. Her ability to convince others, coupled with her bold, inquisitive and determined nature, assist her throughout her quest to reveal the truth. In addition, Penelope is also caring, considerate and is willing to risk her life, for the life of others. She possesses qualities that would be impressive and commendable living in any era. I think she is a great role model for us all today.

I would now love to read further books written by Christopher Edge. I enjoyed his style of writing, the mystery element and the fascinating historical links.

The Black Crow Conspiracy is most definitely a thought provoking book, inspiring both historical and scientific interest. This is a brilliant read for anyone who enjoys mysteries and the supernatural. If you want to find out if Penelope uncovers the unimaginable explanation, you will have to read The Black Crow Conspiracy yourself!

 

2. This book written by Christopher Edge had lots of great features. It included great detail that was used in each sentence, describing the looks and what it was like. What I particularly liked was the main character, Penelope Treadwell as she had portrayed a very important part in the book and gives a great impact on how the story is told. She has had a very interesting history which made me personally read the whole book. The book itself has given me the opportunity to experience such emotions throughout the book. One of the other things I liked was how she was linked in with the scenes but also you were left to have a chance and think about the mystery left.   

The story is of a 15 year old girl named Penelope Treadwell who goes on a mystical journey trying to save her uncle Monty in 1902. As she progresses further into her journey she encounters many new characters who act as obstacles making it harder to reach her goal. She has the help of her uncle and Alfie, one of her known friends. Monty leaves clues hidden in each scene what helps Penelope and Alfie to free Monty.

Although the date was stated in the blurb, some other things implied that the setting was from a different time. Things such as the history of the book that was written using description which has made an impact. Some of the characters had also made an impact as they had spoken about the kings and queens from the olden times. They did not have such modern devices such as touch screen items and tablets. The way the writer has structured the writing makes you read in between the lines and figure out what they are really trying to say.

The book is from one of the mystery series by Christopher Edge but in this book it did the opposite of what normal mystery book did and that was giving away the plot right at the beginning. In my opinion mystery is my favourite genre and it always had been but now I think that this particular type is my favourite as the story has inspired me to make changes. As I have been reading, each chapter has made me want to read on to the next one as each page is filled with every emotion. There is adventure, excitement, worry, surprise, twists and thoughts rolled into one amazing story book.

What I have also taken an interest to is the front and back cover of the book. I think that the way the book cover is laid out and displayed takes a big part in telling you what the book might be about. In this case the front cover is of Penelope herself with dark brown hair and emerald green eyes. The background is of a black castle with a flag and a shining moon behind. The title is in white and has dark grey crows flying around with the author's name in purple.

The back cover is of the blurb written in white with the last caption of ‘Ghostly apparitions. Kidnap and treason. -this is the stuff of great stories. But what if it's all true?' Also there is a ship sailing behind the black castle and in the top left had corner, two of the other books in the series. There are more crows flying around the blurb as well and a green colour background.

My final thought on this book was that it was an amazing story. It had everything my ideal book would have. There was emotion in every page and it was a story that came to life. I hope to read more of the books in the series and enjoy more of the mystery in each one.

By Roselyn

3. I enjoyed this book because it was full of life and very interesting, particularly the section where Penelope perceives the link between the German Embassy and the Advancement of Science. I read a lot of books particularly Mystery and Crime so this book was perfect for me because the Crown Jewels are stolen.

My favourite character in this book is Penelope who is one of the mainprotagonists. She is courageous and loves writing like I do too! She works for "The Penny Dreadful' which is a magazine and Penelope is the inspiration and writer of the stories. Sadly Penelope suffers from writers' block sometimes and can't think of anything to write but when Penelope does get an idea it is always an instant hit with her audience! She is dedicated to finding out the secret about the "Radiant Boys" who are a group of green ghosts who can walk through walls and are slaves. Penelope, from my perspective, is like a female version of Sherlock Holmes and is even better in some ways because she has to battle against what society thought of women in those times. She is caring and helpful too. She shows this when she helps the Royal Family out at the end of the book to get the lost King back where he belongs!

My least favourite character in this book is the Kaiser because he had something to do with the loss of the Royal Family. In my opinion, anyone who takes someone hostage is a big disgrace. He is a very greedy man as we can tell from the novel and would do anything to gain control of as many countries as he wishes! In the book he says, "When I gain control I will launch an atomic army." His atomic army will be made out of "Radiant Boys" and will conquer any country that takes his fancy.

This book is called "The Black Crow Conspiracy" because Penelope receives a letter of confession stating that they stole the jewels. The letter has a crow at the end of it. A conspiracy is a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. The Black Crow is the clue to the mystery in the end.

My favourite event in this book is the finale when Penelope and her two friends Monty and Alfie set out on their rescue mission to bring England back the Royal Family and to save England from having the Kaiser (German Emperor) ruling them. The Royal Family include: King Edward the Seventh, Queen Alexander, the Duke of York, Princess Victoria, the Duke of Connaught, the Duchess of Fife and many more. There were over thirty in total! I couldn't put this book down when it got to this part and that is a sign of a very good book! The three friends end up turning themselves into Radiant Boys (not slaves though) in the end so they can walk through walls and rescue their King and his family.

My favourite location in this book is the Advancement of Science laboratories because the evil Professor Röntgen works there! He is the person who invented the Radiant Boys to make an army. He is German and has links with the German Embassy which is next door. The Advancement of Science is full of mystery including the cloakroom in the basement that has long black cloaks in it (worn by the Radiant Boys). This basement also has a tunnel to the German Embassy. The Röntgen Rays are discovered in this building and it is also the location of a very important meeting. Penelope pretends to be Madame Curie and attends the meeting to dig up the truth about the Röntgen Rays but she is discovered when the real Madame Curie arrives.

The Black Crow Conspiracy is linked in many ways with actual history. All the Royal Family members exist in history including King Edward and Queen Alexander. Their coronation was on 9th August 1902 but it was originally scheduled for 26th June 1902. It was postponed because Edward took ill with an abdominal abscess that required immediate surgery. The Black Crow Conspiracy tells that the Crown Jewels are stolen and the Royal Family are lost. The book says the theft of the jewels and loss of the Royal Family is the reason for the postponement. Another link between the history of 1902 and the Black Crow Conspiracy is Professor Röntgen.  According to history and particular sources, Professor Röntgen was a well respected man and did actually invent the Röntgen Rays as this book tells us. Röntgen was trying to generate an electrostatic charge when he noticed a faint shimmering from abench a few feet away from the tube he was using. This is how Röntgen Rays were formed and invented.

This book definitely made me want to go and find out more about history because I always like to understand a book when I read it and my further research helped me develop a bigger picture of life back in 1902. When reading this book, I researched: the coronation, the King and Queen, the German Embassy, Professor Röntgen and some words I needed the meaning of.

This book has made me decide to read more books by Christopher Edge because I would like to experience more crimes with Penelope, Alfie and Monty. In my local library I have recently requested "Shadows of the Silver Screen" and "Twelve Minutes to Midnight". I absolutely can't wait to receive these books!

The only other thing I would like to say about this book is that the front cover is very colourful and this is what attracted me to this book when my history teacher held it up in front of my class. I immediately thought, "It is my type of book: Mystery and Crime." I was totally right because it is one of the best books I have ever read in my life! In conclusion, I would definitely rate this book 10/10 and I would also recommend this book to anyone of any age, boy or girl!

By Helen

4. The Black Crow Conspiracy was a well written book, with detailed description that made the setting easy to believe and familiarise with. I particularly appreciated the description of the Society for the Advancement of Science's building, and it was very easy to picture. My only issue with the book was that, as a standalone novel, it was very difficult to connect with the characters, who felt as if they needed fleshing out. However, it should be noted there are two books that precede it, and so it is likely that little character development was needed by this point, save for the new antagonists and supporting characters.

As a historical novel, the history appeared very accurate, with references to events that began the build-up to WW1, which was 12 years away from the setting of the novel, which was 1902. I had slight misgivings about Penelope's ability to write at a professional level, as she was 13 during the events of the novel, and the ability to write at such a high standard would be rare in modern times, and rarer still in 1902, due to education being worse and due to the sexism that was noted to be prevalent by Penelope herself. Again, this is likely addressed by other instalments in the series, but in the book itself, it is not explained at all.

The book was still successful in making me wish to learn about history, specifically the history of scientific advancement, due to the Society for the Advancement of Science. It also made me wonder how scientific advancements before and during WW1, WW2 and even today.

Overall, it is a successful historical novel with well-written description and dialogue, but some issues with characterisation which could have been already addressed in other instalments.

By Finn

5. This is a spooky story based in 1902 and King Edward is on the throne. I like the way the author has written a modern day plot using historical events.  The plot is believable and the story has a good pace to keep the reader engaged.

This book can be read by both boys and girls and is full of adventure.

8/10

By James