Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

by Julie Berry

Roaring Brook Press, 2014

368 Pages

Age: 10-14

This playful Agatha Christie-style murder mystery is a lively and engaging Victorian romp! Seven young women enrolled in a private school are faced with the death of their headmistress and resolve to continue the operation of the school on their own.

The ladies enrolled in St. Etheldreda’s School for Girls are aptly introduced in a preface by the fame or infamy of their parents. Just as if we were in an old movie like The Magnificent Seven , each of the main characters has a special, defining quirk. Berry’s genius is that she calls the women by their traits throughout the book so there is no confusion.

When, in a single night, both guardians fall dead at the dinner table, despite their previously brutish treatment by Headmistress Constance Plackett and her brother, Mr. Aldous Godding, the girls all decide that being at the school is much more desirable than being sent home. And of course, what is the worst thing that could happen when seven young women decide to cover up the death of their adult supervisors?

A surprise party! It’s Mr. Godding’s birthday, and a parade of guests begin arriving, filing in one after the other. The doctor insists he must examine Mrs. Plackett (impersonated by none other than the girl’s own Stout Alice) since she is “not feeling well,” then nosy Miss Fringle twists her ankle and decides to spend the night in the downstairs bedroom… sharing a bed with poor, ill, widow Plackett. By the time Admiral Lockwood and Reverend Ramsey, the last of the guests, are dispatched with a few glasses of spirits from Smooth Kitty and scandalous Mary Jane, Dour Elinor finally extricates herself from the armoire she was sharing with the body of Mr. Godding.
 

Each convinced for her own reasons that it would be the most preferable course of action to cover up the deaths of the Headmistress and her brother and carry on the pretense that nothing was wrong, they bury the bodies. Pocked Louise, the scientist, determines with the latest scientific research methods that it was indeed poison that did the two of them in.

The next day, the boy from the neighboring farm, Henry Butts, claims there was someone in the garden “cooing” the previous night. (Mary Jane had thought the calling had been him trying to win her flirtatious attention, but really, another of the girls may have caught his eye…) But if it wasn’t Henry, was it the murderer?

Louise shows up with a dog for their protection along with a cherry tree for topping the graves in the backyard, but it’s a spaniel, not a bulldog. He is named Aldous after Mr. Godding, even though, really, he had wanted to dig up Mr. Godding.

Just when they thought they might be able to catch a breath… the housekeeper Amanda Barnes shows up. The young women weave a story about how Mrs. Plackett’s nephew Julius Godding has fallen ill and died of Malaria. Mr. Godding has departed for London and and the Headmistress is in mourning.
 

Kitty’s eyebrows rose. “Which of us? Why do you think it was one of us?”

“Oh, I want it to be, desperately,” Mary Jane said. “A nice, private, domestic vendetta, and then we can all just go on happily. Someone else, someone out there makes matters a frightful nuisance. One of us? Cozy as anything.”

The girls have a confab and decide that Smooth Kitty will run the household finances and paperwork, as there is now the need to find a way to bring in more money than just their tuition, and Pocked Louise will head up the murder investigation. The question arises, how was Mrs. Plackett making ends meet with so many mysterious checks written to “cash”?

Alice does a magnificent Mrs. Plackett; well enough to fool the housekeeper, the injured Miss Fringle, and even Mrs. Plackett’s doctor when he comes for another visit… but when the girls agree to attend the strawberry social at the parish on Wednesday night, it means Alice will have to wear her costume rather than flirt with young Mr. Murphy, (Mrs. Plackett’s lawyer’s assistant). And, of course, seeing “Mrs. Plackett” still alive, will the murderer make another attempt on her life?
 

Other clues begin to present themselves:
Mr. Murphy had recently delivered some changes to Mrs. Plackett’s last will and testament.

Smooth Kitty notices that when they turned out the stiffs’ pockets, they each were holding a coin on their bodies: Spanish doubloons.

The odd old sea captain Admiral Lockwood, who has an eye for Mrs. Plackett, seems to share some secret with her.

Mrs. Plackett’s will goes missing, and tension builds as the mystery deepens. Suspects crawl out of the woodwork, each of whom had reason to take out either the Headmistress or Mr. Godding, the gambler.

The Strawberry Social arrives. We are drawn into a vortex of high emotions as boys from the theological college make their introductions to the girls, Mary Jane acts– well, disgracefully while chasing after a young police constable, more poisonings occur, and a great surprise befalls Alice while posing as Mrs. Plackett. Then, the startling appearance of none other than Darling Julius. Is he an imposter come to claim an inheritance? Will he unravel the entire scheme and decimate the self-governing dream of the school for girls?

This lighthearted whodunit was a welcome page-turner. The dog doesn’t die. The resolution was entirely satisfying, and each of the loose ends, red herrings, and morbid secrets are tied up in a neat bow.

I love the way the girls all work together with no backstabbing or blaming; they have a common cause and each recognizes her own individual place and unique value within the team. That isn’t to say there is no tension between them, but they demonstrate coping with their feelings without blowing things out of proportion, despite the stressful burden of a murderer on the loose.
 

I enjoyed Julie Berry’s Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series, and this novel is just as rich. The author inserts grimly fiendish snickers such as when Mr. Godding freezes up with rigor mortis in an unusual recently-stuffed-in-a-chest type position, and will not fit into the hole dug for his disposal.

What audience is this book best suited for? Though I’d generally classify it as Young Adult, the Barnes and Noble recommendation is younger. Like Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series, the length and language might be a bit heavy for an intermediate mid-grade audience, but the story itself would not be too intense for younger readers. It’s lighthearted enough to be almost irreverent to the murder part of the mystery. Berry is adept at diffusing any scenes that might ordinarily be scary or threatening.

Berry’s characters are rich and wonderful, but since there are seven, it is hard to go into too much depth of personality for each in a single novel. I would welcome a sequel where the ladies of Prickwillow Place find themselves surrounded by dire circumstances and positioned to solve another murder!

Yes, the number of leading characters can be confusing even with their obvious nicknames, so I turned to the cover picture to get a feel for them. In fact, one of the highlights of the reading experience was the art associated with the novel. (I even loved the font choice for the book.)

The American version (above) boasts Arsenic and Old Lace illustrations of poison tea cups and skulls by Iacopo Bruno (also seen in James Preller’s Scary Tales).

But what most folks here in America have not been able to appreciate is Nicola Kinnear’s UK cover and illustrations for Julie Berry’s book, which truly bestowed character and personality to the nicknames, and I think it’s an important and quite successful representation that certainly helped me associate each with their quirks.

I couldn’t pick a favorite character if I tried. Berry’s writing is always a win. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her speak in person about her writing process, and was both enlightened and impressed. Check out some of her other Young Adult titles, The Amaranth Enchantment, All The Truth That’s In Me, and The Passion of Dolssa. You won’t be disappointed.