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The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth cover reveal – and a festive competition!

Season’s greetings! I’m very excited because today I’m revealing the incredibly gorgeous cover for the sequel to The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow.

Take a look at the beautiful The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth, publishing in March 2016!

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Once again, illustrator Júlia Sardà and the design team at Egmont have done an absolutely incredible job with this cover. I really love the vibrant red, and of course the shiny silver foil (just look at the tiny silver bubbles from the champagne glasses!)

The cover also gives you a few clues to what happens in the next book… here’s the blurb from the back cover:

The honour of your company is requested at Lord Beaucastle’s fancy dress ball. Wonder at the puzzling disappearance of the Jewelled Moth! Marvel as our heroines, Sophie and Lil, don cunning disguises, mingle in high society and munch many cucumber sandwiches to solve this curious case! Applaud their bravery as they follow a trail of terrible secrets that leads straight to London’s most dangerous criminal mastermind, and could put their own lives at risk… It will be the most thrilling event of the season!

You can now pre-order The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth here.

Competition time!

To celebrate the cover reveal (and the fact it’s nearly Christmas!) I’m running a festive competition here, on Twitter and and on my author Facebook page.

Enter for the chance to win a signed copy of The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow, plus a box of lovely goodies worthy of Sinclair’s department store itself.

Here’s a little sneak peek at the prize:

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The peacock print box is so pretty, and it’s packed full of treats that could almost have come right out of Sinclair’s Confectionery Department. (Is it bad that I kind of want to keep it for myself?)

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment below, email me, tweet me or leave me a Facebook comment to tell me – if you were doing your Christmas shopping at Sinclair’s, what would you buy? It can be something for yourself or for someone else.

I had some fun thinking of what Christmas presents I might buy at Sinclair’s for Sophie, Lil and the gang:

  • BILLY: Billy spends a lot of time in The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow scribbling in old exercise books with the stub of a pencil, so I think I’d treat him to a leather-bound notebook and a fountain pen. Of course, I’d also have to give him a detective story or two from the store’s Book Department.
  • SOPHIE: Sophie’s best frock gets well and truly ruined during Clockwork Sparrow, so I’d probably head to Ladies Fashions to find her an elegant new outfit to wear next time she goes to the theatre. But somehow I can’t help thinking that she might find a magnifying glass or a pocket knife a little more useful for her future adventures…
  • JOE: After his time living rough on the streets and hiding out in the Sinclair’s basement I feel Joe deserves some TLC, so his Christmas present would be a big cosy jumper from Gentlemen’s Outfitting, and maybe some woolly socks to make sure he’s toasty warm all winter.
  • LIL: The gang in general enjoy their food, but if there’s one person whose appetite is as big as her capacity for enthusiasm, it’s Lil! I’d get her a huge Christmas hamper stuffed with all kinds of tasty festive treats for her to share with the others over the holidays.

Enter by 5.00pm on Sunday 13 December for a chance to win – I’ll choose my favourite response to win the prize. The competition is open to the UK only (sorry!)

Updated: The competition is now closed!

In more exciting festive news, The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow has featured in Christmas booklists including the Telegraph’s best Christmas books for children  and Red Magazine’s best children’s books to give as gifts. I hope it will be appearing under lots of Christmas trees and in lots of stockings this year!

Updated Jan 2016: The Competition Winners!

It was so difficult to choose a winner for the Clockwork Sparrow festive competition as we had so many fantastic entries. I loved reading about all the different things you would buy – from glamorous gowns to delicious treats from the Confectionery Department, and of course, lots of extravagant hats! Huge thanks to everyone who entered.

In the end the prize was awarded jointly to two young readers aged 7 and 10 who are also sisters, who chose to draw as well as illustrate their ideas – check out their winning entries below. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy your Sinclair’s Christmas goodies!

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11 Comments on The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth cover reveal – and a festive competition!

  1. Zoe
    November 30, 2015 at 8:56 am (8 years ago)

    A hat, with lots of lovely feathers on it! Though I’d rather like to dine in Sinclairs too

    Reply
  2. Anne Booth
    November 30, 2015 at 9:21 am (8 years ago)

    I would have to bring my entire family in to get hats! I am sure Sophie would give us great advice – maybe even recommending hats for a golden retriever and a spaniel too!

    Reply
    • Rhea
      December 9, 2015 at 7:26 pm (8 years ago)

      Hi did you write the book “Girl With A White Dog”?
      Because that is one of my favourites, so poignant and heart- lifting…in short, it’s amazing! I especially like Jess, and I’m glad she got to do the right thing in the end! 😉
      (P.S. Neil was really nice too.)

      Reply
  3. Bridget Mellor
    November 30, 2015 at 3:29 pm (8 years ago)

    Oooh I’d buy an exquisite fountain pen and some delicious chocolates in Sinclairs to eat while writing my memoirs

    Reply
  4. Lucy
    November 30, 2015 at 4:22 pm (8 years ago)

    Snazzy christmas jumpers for all my family members!

    Reply
  5. Shelley
    December 2, 2015 at 5:11 pm (8 years ago)

    I am writing on behalf of my book monster daughter, Katie aged 9.
    “I’d either buy a silk paisley scarf or head straight to the book department for a murder mystery book”.
    Katie’s favourite real shop is either a good independent bookshop or a haberdashery. We like dreaming in Liberty and stroking the fabric and buttons in the haberdashery like a pair of loons!
    Katie can’t wait for the Jewelled Moth.

    Reply
    • Rhea
      December 9, 2015 at 7:21 pm (8 years ago)

      Neither can I…I’m so excited!

      Reply
  6. Leanne
    December 3, 2015 at 8:31 am (8 years ago)

    I love hats and would certainly spend time looking in the hat department, but I would buy a crystal snowflake ornament for my tree with 2015 on it.

    Reply
  7. Rhea
    December 6, 2015 at 4:53 pm (8 years ago)

    I would say probably a beautiful dress like the one that Lil wore when she first encountered Sophie in The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow. It would be lovely to wear a dress like that, and I wouldn’t mind having a look at how Christmas cards looked in the Edwardian times, as I suspect they would be really beautiful, and I would have a lot of fun distributing them to all my family and friends. And a good Edwardian classic to read curled up by the fire (or leant against the radiator, in my case), though I don’t think they would be as good as yours xxx

    Reply
  8. Jo
    December 8, 2015 at 4:46 pm (8 years ago)

    I have a lovely Twitter friend Ally who spends her time treating other people and just generally being the loveliest person. We both have a passion for Pride and Prejudice so I would take her to choose some dresses for our ball and some new fans so we could admire Mr Darcey from afar.Then we would go and buy ribbons for our bonnets so they were just like those new Parisian fashions.All of this we would do unchaperoned as we’re frightfully modern.

    Reply
  9. Jen Schofield
    December 11, 2015 at 1:55 pm (8 years ago)

    I would buy a lovely new bag and slippers for all the family

    Reply

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