Swept Away: Ruth Mornay and the Unwanted Clues

Written by Natalie Hyde

DCB

978-1-77086-689-8

200 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2023 

Reviewed from advance reading copy

When 63-year-old Beatrice Payens is swept away in the Teeswater River, her 11-year-old friend and next-door neighbour Ruth Mornay is grief-stricken and perplexed. Why would Bea, head of the Teeswater River Embankment Rehabilitation Society and diligent advocate for signage warning Pinkerton residents about the danger of getting too close to the water's edge, be so negligent? Something doesn't add up for Ruth. 

 

Things get weirder when Hugh Rolls and his young son Saul move in next door, inheriting the house from their Aunt Bea, though Ruth knew Bea had no relatives. Ruth has even more questions. Problem is, all Ruth has are questions. Troubled by weird dreams of drowning and a paltry trio of bequests–a weird water sprinkler head, some old, embroidered gloves and an ugly picture of flowers made from human hair (yech!)– Ruth starts looking for clues and suspects among her fellow residents of Pinkerton (population 134). With Saul as her secret ally, Ruth works at putting the clues together, when she isn't running after her escaped Rhode Island Red hen, Dorcas.

 

The best mysteries are the ones you don't know are mysteries. Ruth suspects something is amiss, but she doesn't really know that Bea didn't just slip into the water accidentally. But, like a puzzle with only a few pieces, Ruth starts slowly. And she thinks and speculates, and she asks questions, and she watches. With Saul, another keen observer and solver of mysteries, Ruth learns there really is much more to Bea's story and her own. That's why Swept Away is so fulfilling as a read. Not only does Ruth figure out what happened to Bea–even putting herself in danger–she learns more about herself and her family in the process. She could never have guessed that pursuing a hunch she had about Bea's disappearance could lead her to a new friend, some family history, and an important discovery about herself. Better yet, writer Natalie Hyde, who has authored outstanding middle-grade novels like Up the Creek (2021), Mine! (2017), and Saving Arm Pit (2015), blends a strong plot with an assortment of unique characters, and a touch of humour. A mystery is always an alluring story but add to it a child with six older brothers and no access to computers, a delinquent but clever hen, a wandering pig, townspeople like the town snoop Mrs. Gorgonzola and Ruth's tedious non-best friend Emily Parsons, and you get a whodunit with twists and turns but also laughter. Natalie Hyde always slips in some subtle humour to add a layer of fun. 

Four years ago at the Fall Fair, Mrs. Parsons–Emily's mom–had to be restrained by committee members when she learned Mrs. Gorgonzola's red pepper jelly had beaten hers. She claimed Mrs. Gorgonzola stole her recipe, which was her grandmother's, and passed it off as her own. Mrs. Gorgonzola said Mrs. Parsons shouldn't flatter herself, that the only thing the Parson red pepper jelly was good for was to oil her furniture. (pg. 81)

Often Ruth's observations about her small town are what give us the most humour, like the red pepper jelly debacle or the purported theft of Mrs. Gorgonzola's ugly green neon lava lamp. It's what's really happening in Pinkerton; it just happens to be funny too.

See if you can figure out this whodunit but, even if it comes as a surprise, especially what it means for Ruth, you'll enjoy visiting Pinkerton, a not-so-sleepy small town, a hot bed of secrets, and a playground for a miscellany of farm animals.