Letty and the Mystery of the Golden Thread (Paperback) - Penny Boxall

Anybody who found themselves in the rigging of the good ship Lotus very early that morning would have seen an unusual sight: a shy, plump girl with a magpie fidgeting on her shoulder, holding in her hand a glinting coin...

We begin in LONDON, 1774.

Twelve-year-old Lettice Breech is excited to visit Europe with her Pa, who is eternally fascinated by ancient objects. Together they're going to admire breathtaking French art, astounding Roman ruins, and spectacular Greek carvings.

But their plans are dashed when part of a famous statue is exposed as a forgery, and Pa is thrown in gaol for the crime.

Pa has taught Letty how to tell a real antiquity from a fake, but she needs the other pieces of the statue to prove it. So she escapes to France with only a notebook of clues in her pocket, and her pet magpie for company.

Soon Letty is whisked from her quiet life on an adventure to bustling cities, underground mazes, and misty mountains. But can she unravel the mystery of the statue, and prove Pa's innocence before it's too late?

LETTY AND THE GOLDEN THREAD is an exciting, continent-traversing adventure from debut talent, Penny Boxall; perfect for fans of Netflix's plucky ENOLA HOLMES, Hana Tooke's THE UNADOPTABLES, and the caper of Katherine Rundell's ROOFTOPPERS.

About the Author

Penny Boxall writes middle-grade fiction.


She's fascinated by all things 18th-century. In her museums jobs she's helped look after William Wordsworth's spectacles at Dove Cottage, Laurence Sterne's porcelain cow at Shandy Hall, Mughal miniatures at the Ashmolean, and the Queen's tapestries.


She has an MA in Creative Writing from UEA and has published three poetry collections, including Ship of the Line (which won Scotland's largest poetry prize). She's held residencies at an Oxford college, a Scottish castle, a Swiss chateau, and a shipping container near Loch Long.


She grew up in Aberdeenshire and now lives in York. She can often be found wuthering about on the moors.