★★★★☆ Starring Miss Judson

Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity

Elizabeth C. Bunce

At the end of Elizabeth C. Bunce's In Myrtle Peril Myrtle (snooping in his desk) discovered hints that her father, Arthur Hardcastle, had secret plans that involved jewelry and boarding schools. In book 5, Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity, we find out almost immediately what those plans were. You've probably already figured it out. Yes, Myrtle's father is finally going to ask Miss Judson to be his wife.

The real action, however, kicks off when Miss Judson receives a thick letter telling her that she has inherited an estate in Scotland from a great-uncle she has never even heard of. Well, you know Miss Judson, so you know that she immediately decides to go there herself, to see this estate and decide what to do about it. She takes Myrtle along, of course, and (this was a bit of a surprise) also Cook. Arthur Hardcastle, having obligations, is not immediately free to accompany them.

The estate is located on the (fictional) island Dunfyne in (nonfictional) Loch Fyne, Argyll, Scotland and sports the ancestral mansion of Clan MacJudd (whose scion Miss Judson is), Rockfforde Hall. Dunfyne is isolated -- accessible only by boat, and without regular ferry service. We thus have something like a locked-room mystery, with everyone trapped on Dunfyne. There's a lost treasure to hunt for and, eventually, a murder or two to investigate.

Miss Judson has always been one of the principal characters of the Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries, but she is even more central to this one than to the previous ones. Of course, like all the novels, this one is narrated in the first person by Myrtle, so Miss Judson can't entirely hog the focus.

Bunce obviously has a lot of fun rendering Scots dialect. In fact, she ends with an appendix entitled "Hardcastle & Craig’s Brief Scots Lexicon" that contains, for instance, this entry

Scube Dubh (a mystery-solving Great Dane)

That's just Bunce having a little fun. The term "scube dubh" does appear in the novel, but it refers to a shovel.

Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity is, I think, the best of the Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries. The action is exciting, the mysteries are intriguing, and the action never lets up.

In her Acknowledgements Bunce writes

As always, my thanks and admiration go out to my amazing team at Algonquin Young Readers, all the folks who have contributed to bringing you five Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries (so far),

hinting that more Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries may eventually be forthcoming. This one was published in 2023, so hope is not yet dead. If there is another, I will certainly read it.

Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity on Amazon

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