The glamor of the fictional Sinclair’s department store is beautifully presented, as are other setting details, bringing to life early 1900s London, when large department stores were new and exciting. Sophie is a courageous heroine, and Lil and Billy are plucky, lovable sidekicks. They befriend Joe, a former member of the East End gang known as the “Baron’s Boys” who knows about London’s criminal underworld. Billy’s code-breaking knowledge comes in handy, as does Lil’s talent as an actress. Sophie and her friends, Lil, a department store mannequin and wannabe actress, and Billy, an apprentice porter and reader of detective stories, hunt for clues to exonerate Sophie. Having returned to the store after her shift to pick up some laundry she’d forgotten, Sophie is seen gazing at the sparrow and becomes a suspect. One employee is shot and many valuables are stolen, including the owner’s priceless clockwork sparrow. The night before the grand opening of Sinclair’s, the store’s exhibition room is robbed. On her own after the death of her father, 14-year-old Sophie Taylor feels lucky to have secured a job as a shop girl at the new Sinclair’s Department Store in Piccadilly. Written by Júlia Sardà (illus.) Katherine Woodfine
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