The Hummingbird Dagger

Written by Cindy Anstey

Feiwel and Friends

978-1-250174895

352 pp.

Ages 13-18

2019

The year is 1833 and a young woman is injured in a carriage accident caused by 14-year-olds Walter Ellerby and friend Henry Thompson. Though the men in the carriage are reluctant to accept any help for the young woman, Walter's brother, Lord James Ellerby, 20, demands she be taken to their home and a doctor called. The carriage and its driver and patrons continue on their journey.

But the young woman has no memory about who she is, except for haunting nightmares of a dark room and a dagger with the hilt of a hummingbird.  She asks to be called Beth, the only name she can recall, and becomes a companion to eighteen-year-old Caroline Ellerby. As they attempt to discover who she is, James, Caroline and Beth discover greater mysteries, including that the carriage she'd been on was not the regular carriage between London and Exeter as had been expected and the trunk they'd been given as hers was actually filled with men's clothes. Then someone tries to break into the house, Caroline and Beth are accosted on the road and a man is found dead. As they try to determine who Beth is, a myriad of characters, from the Reverend Cranley's wife, to Henry's mother, sister Sophia and visiting uncle, Gilbert Renfrew, become part of the story, along with those who make claims to be related to her. It soon becomes a game of whom to believe and who should not be trusted, as the mystery of Beth’s identity is tied with the danger that someone means to harm her. But, with Beth's memories seeping back ever so slowly, the question is whether the young people will discover her story before the nightmares related to that hummingbird dagger become her reality.

Blended with a budding romance or two, some shenanigans by Walter and Henry that actually unearth more clues, red herrings peppering the narrative, and several sting operations that are either fruitless or go awry, The Hummingbird Dagger is a historical mystery at its finest. For some readers, the historical time will be the hook, as it’s set in Regency Britain, a time when a folly is a structure, when a law against privateering is being discussed in the House of Lords, and young ladies require chaperones. But it’s the mystery that compelled me to read on. Cindy Anstey layers suspicion with hope and the nefarious with the respectable and creates a story of such depth that the villains are not easily identified and their motivations shrouded. She carries that dangerous riddle of Beth's identity flawlessly, never playing up the amnesia as crutch for the story, always drawing the reader along with each revelation. It's like putting a puzzle together with James, Caroline, Beth and Walter all finding pieces and hoping they'll fall together. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't. Still Cindy Anstey resolves Beth's story with a happy enough ending that does not feel contrived or predictable.

For a thrilling historical mystery, with the distinct atmosphere of Regency England and a touch of romance, Cindy Anstey's The Hummingbird Dagger delivers.

• • • • •

Next I review Deadly Curious, a legacy sequel of The Hummingbird Dagger but also a strong standalone mystery that focuses on Sophia Thompson as one of the protagonists. Look for it next here on CanLit for LittleCanadians.

Live to Tell

by Lisa Harrington
Dancing Cat Books
978-1-77086-217-3
170 pp.
Ages 13+
2012

Just having been awarded the White Pine Fiction Award in the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading program last week, I willed myself to go back to 2012 to review Live to Tell.  I suspect that many readers, including author Lisa Harrington, were surprised by the book's selection by high school students as their favourite book but, as I always say, if a book wins an award, it deserves to win it.

Teen Libby Thorne wakes up after twelves days of unconsciousness in a hospital, trying to piece together how she got there from the bits and pieces her parents, nurses and friends are able to share.  They can't tell her much because the police are involved now and she needs to provide her account, not one pieced together from others' information.  Two visitors are especially critical in helping bring back Libby's memories.  First, her best friend Kasey, whom Libby's mom has always thought of as a bad influence on Libby, sneaks in to visit and update her on what happened and how the outside world is reacting to the car accident and Libby's role in it.  Second is Cal McInnis whose good looks and devotion to Libby while at the hospital has everyone cooing about him being her boyfriend.  Thing is, the boyfriend she remembers is Nate, though slivers of memory do start to poke into her consciousness and she recalls a rather crude break-up and subsequent drinking.

I know that my students dislike the use of a character's amnesia to develop a plot, but in Live to Tell Lisa Harrington does not use it as a device to keep the whole truth hidden.  The loss of memory is used to reveal Libby's thinking as she tries to make sense of what she is told, what she feels, and what is the truth.  Because her future depends on her remembering–she has been arrested for manslaughter–Libby wants to learn the truth quickly but she isn't always making sure how reliable the information is.  Fortunately, with some friendly direction and because human nature eventually leads us to show our true selves, the twisted plot and surprise revelations bring a swift resolution to Live to Tell.  

Lisa Harrington has penned a young adult mystery with hints of romance and teen angst that obviously reached many teen readers, garnishing a major Canadian book award for young people.  Though Libby's story does jump back and forth between her memories and her present, the plot is essentially a linear one: girl awakens with amnesia and tries to fill those gaps in her memory.  I think Live to Tell could have benefited from some additional subplots to enrich the story but I tend to enjoy more complicated story-telling and those that provide me with the context for considering larger social issues than, say, drinking.  But the readers clearly appreciated the tight storyline and its convolutions, and that's good enough for me.

Congratulations on your White Pine Fiction award,  

Lisa Harrington,

for Live to Tell!