Twelve Minutes to Midnight

A thriller with a fast-paced cinematic style, Twelve Minutes to Midnight is an electrifying story and the first book in a must-read new series.

Penelope Tredwell is the feisty thirteen-year-old orphan heiress of the bestselling magazine, The Penny Dreadful. Her masterly tales of the macabre are gripping Victorian Britain, even if no one knows she’s the real author. One day a letter she receives from the governor of the notorious Bedlam madhouse plunges her into an adventure more terrifying than anything she ever imagined…

Winner of the Stockport Schools’ Book Award. Shortlisted for the Northern Ireland Book Award, the Warwickshire Secondary Book Award, the Hillingdon Secondary Book of the Year Award, the Dudley Teen Book Award, the Oldham Schools’ Book Award, the Redbridge Children’s Book Award, the Phoenix Book Award and Southampton’s Favourite Book Award. Selected by the International Youth Library for The White Ravens 2013.

An excellent mystery in a league with Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus, Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart, and Eleanor Updale's Montgomery series.

Starred review, Booklist