The Pearl Thief

 Shirley J.                 Adult Fiction Mystery                        Scottish Pearls, Travellers, Privilege    

The Pearl Thief (Book #4 in the Code Name Verity Series) by Elizabeth Wein   352 pages

15 year old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital with no idea how she got there nor what happened to her other than she has a pain in her head.   Was it an accident or intentional?  Who would try to hurt her and why?  Oh, you will find so many reasons when you read this book.  Set in the Highlands of Scotland, Julia's grandfather, once a hugely influential rich man had gotten ill toward his latter years and lost most of his fortune.  Julia learns a boy from the traveller's (Gypsy) camp, Euan Ewen, had come upon her and carried her to get help.  Many distrusting the traveller's as thieves accuse Euan for harming her and he later ends up coming up on charges.   There is a magical factor of the Scottish Pearls of Mary, Queen of Scots that Julia comes upon in her grandfather's things.   A quirky librarian at the oldest existing library who guards artifacts and jewelry also belonging to Mary Queen of Scots in her wee library, a tough old bird, she wields a shotgun to do so.  Julia tries to pass for 18 to her sorrow when her coy lies entice a rough fellow and she incurs the ire of the local constabulary defending the travellers.   Lots of good story here and the reader will learn a lot about Scottish pearls in the reading.  I recommend this book to middle schoolers on up.  Some good lessons to be learned for young folks.