The Black Crow Conspiracy is the third (and seemingly final) book in the Penelope Tredwell series by Christopher Edge. Although I thoroughly enjoyed Twelve Minutes To Midnight and Shadows Of The Silver Screen, this is definitely my favourite book in the trilogy.
The story starts at a fantastic pace, with the mysterious theft of the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London by a strange glowing man. Penelope, along with her usual accomplices, Alfie and Montgomery Flinch, appear to be behind the crime. After all, how else could they have published an almost identical story in their magazine, The Penny Dreadful, several months earlier? In order to clear their names, they have to work fast to solve the crime, which could not only destroy them, but also threaten the safety of the whole country.
Penelope is an absolutely wonderful central character, brave and determined but with enough weaknesses to make her interesting. There has been a lot of discussion in the media lately about boys being reluctant to read books that have girls as the main characters, but The Black Crow Conspiracy would definitely appeal to all readers. It has a great balance of adventure, science-fiction and horror. The story moves along quickly, is full of action and has an extremely exciting plot. Highly recommended for Year Five and upwards.
