The Wrong Heir

Theo Latimer is thirteen, good at maths and terrible at lying. So it's a problem when a black envelope invites him to Blackmoor Hall.

Blackmoor is a school in a castle above a black Highland loch. Its pupils are the heirs of the great criminal families: thieves, mercenaries, poisoners and spies, who keep the peace with each other through a rule called Sanctuary. Inside the school walls, no one harms another heir. Not ever.

Theo is supposed to be the last heir of a family that died out years ago. He isn't sure he's anyone's heir at all.

Then Sanctuary is broken for the first time in forty years. A boy is poisoned at dinner, and every clue points at Theo.

He has twelve days until the Reckoning to find out who really did it. Helping him are a thief who can't stop pocketing things, a giant who bakes when he's nervous, and the ice-cold daughter of the most dangerous man in Europe. Following him everywhere is a silent girl with steel pins in her hair. She has been ordered to watch the prime suspect, and if the Reckoning finds him guilty, she is the one who will carry out the sentence.

If Theo's going to survive, he'll have to do the one thing he's good at: notice what doesn't add up.

A clever, funny, fair-play mystery for readers aged 9-14, full of codes, secret passages and a twist you'll want to go back and check.