Bridge of Lies : Adventures of Letty Parker 2 by Misha Herwin #newbooks #childrensbooks

Out this week – Bridge of Lies : Adventures of Letty Parker 2

This is the latest book from the prolific pen (keyboard) of Misha Herwin.

This adventure series is set in a time and place similar to Victorian Bristol, except that this is a magical world where Gargoyles and dragons stalk the rooftops, a bear runs the organised criminal underworld, and where our eponymous heroine, 12 year old Letty Parker, had just launched her very own detective agency. Her first case is the mystery of surrounding the explosion at Brunel’s half-constructed bridge across the Severn Gorge and she is soon plunged into a headlong race to save Bristol once more from the machinations of the Old Ones!

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I asked Misha to talk about allowing children to grow with their favourite characters and here is what she had to say:

“Bridge of Lies” is the second book in the series of “The Adventures of Letty Parker” and Letty is a year older than she was in “City of Secrets.”

As each book in the series progresses, and there will be five all together, Letty will be growing up. Although I don’t plan to write about her as an adult, though who knows−I get so absorbed in her world that I might never want to leave−this time scale poses certain problems.

What I have to keep in mind is, that with the passing of time, Letty will have more experience of the world and this in its turn should make her more mature and more able to cope with what life flings at her. She will also have to deal with adolescence which will impact on her relationships, especially with Gabriel and Jeb.

Letty will become less dependent on Gabriel’s help and his prompting of her conscience and her own sense of what is right or wrong will grow stronger. She will also become more aware of the needs of other people and of the inequalities of the society in which she lives.

Although this all sounds very serious, the books themselves are fast moving, fantasy adventures.

In “Bridge of Lies” Letty Parker is thirteen and has achieved her ambition of becoming an independent business woman by setting up The Letty Parker and Associates Detective Agency. “Mysteries solved and the missing found.”  The agency was funded by gold from her very first assignment and she is in partnership with her friends: Jebediah Hill, the leader of a gang of pickpockets, Mango one of Jeb’s lads, Hepzibah, the daughter of a Bristol merchant and Gabriel, one of the Nephilim.

Known as the Dark Ones these mysterious beings have a firm grip on the city and their leader, Count Nicholas, harbours a particular hatred towards Letty. In the past she disrupted his plans to bring the great and not-so-good of Bristol under his domination and in “Bridge of Lies” he is determined to seek his revenge.

Then there is Ma Pountney and her witches, plus The Bear and his gang of villains, each determined to stand in Letty’s way. Nothing is going right and one by one Letty’s friends desert her. Even in a city, crowded with folk arriving for the Balloon Festival, Letty finds herself alone – and in the greatest of danger.

Some of what happens is Letty’s own fault and by the end of the book she is ready to take responsibility for her actions.

The challenge for me as an author is to chart her journey through the next adventure.

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Bridge of Lies is published by The Penkull Press on 10th May 2019. Available in paper formats from all online and high street booksellers, and from most digital outlets (including Kindle, Apple, Nook and Kobo.)

Misha Herwin is a writer of books for children and adults. She lives in Staffordshire with husband in a house with a dragon in the garden. “City of Secrets” is the first of her books in the Letty Parker series.

Praise for the Letty Parker series:

“Beautifully descriptive with an array of interesting characters and an intriguing storyline. I’m sure you’d find it as captivating as I have.”
Chataboutbooks 

 “… had me hooked and I read it over a couple of days…..I had to know what happened! I really liked the characters and Herwin is fantastic at describing the surroundings, scenes and creatures that we encounter. The book will certainly have your younger ones hooked and cheering Letty on!”
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