Y. S. Lee

Rescued from the gallows in 1850s London, orphan and thief Mary Quinn is invited to join a covert female investigative unit and poses as a lady's companion to track down a wealthy merchant's missing cargo ships. A first novel.

A Spy in the House

Savindi Jinasena

I first came across A Spy In The House after watching Priscilla’s Review on thereadables channel for the book and I thought it would be a great read. I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint me at all! I don’t think my reviews would be complete without dedicating some attention to the cover of course. I like the cover of this book, especially Mary’s gaze towards the side. There’s something mysterious about it and it suits the plot. Also the house pictured on the cover reminds me of “The Noble House of Black” from the Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix movie. The verdict is: I approve of the cover and now it’s time to move onto more fascinating aspects of the book!

As goodreads has explained, the story follows the life of Mary Quinn from being an orphaned thief to novice detective as she has started to work on her first case. The story centers mainly in London, while places like Brighton and India are mentioned briefly. The importance of these locations become evident as the story progresses.

The plot is enjoyable and fast paced. By fast paced I mean, the story begins in 1853 and by pg.11 we have already time traveled to 1858 where Mary is seventeen years old and is working as an instructor for Miss.Scrimshaw’s Academy for Girls, only to be introduced later to The Agency; an elite female detective organization headed by Anne Treleaven and Felicity Frame. These two women are also Mary’s mentors, especially Anne. Still focusing on the pace of the book, I think what I found strange, yet good was the pace moved steadily as the story progressed. I didn’t feel as if any of the chapters acted as fillers for the entire story. All aspects were relevant, even in a minor way. However my only disappointment was that the fast pace let the story down a bit. The aspect here I’m referring to is the training Mary undergoes prior to setting off on her assignment. I would have liked to know more about her training and the interactions between Mary and the instructors. To see the protagonist pushed to her limits would have been an element worth exploring. The plot twists were surprising and enjoyable. Mary’s heritage was one that came as a surprise and I would like to see how that story arc is developed in the next book.

Moving on to characters, I really liked Mary Quinn. She was feisty,strong, smart, witty and realistic. I admired her strength as a character and she carried the book from beginning to end for me. There wasn’t a point where I disliked her at all,except I may have wanted her to respond a bit more forcefully when she was being mocked by certain characters, but that’s just a minor flaw. The male protagonist/love interest James Easton was great as well. He was everything you wanted a Victorian love interest to be, despite being a bit of jerk sometimes. I enjoyed the chemistry between Mary and James and I can’t wait to read of his return in the third book (that’s correct, I read the synopsis for the following two books!). Looking at the Thorold Family, which consists of the married couple Mr & Mrs. Thorold and their spoilt daughter Angelica, there wasn’t much to like about them. They were your snobby and arrogant Merchant family, but I have to say I liked Angelica towards the end. As for the ladies at the Scrimshaw Academy, not much information is revealed about them and I hope that changes in the next book. The other minor secondary characters like George Easton and Alfred Quigley were well written and played their parts to make the story more interesting.

Overall I really enjoyed A Spy In The House. I honestly haven’t read any YA Historical Fiction that takes place in Victorian England and I’m glad this book was my first. It was nice to see a strong female character in the centre of the plot. Another thing that I appreciated in this book was that there wasn’t a complete focus on a romantic aspect. Yes, there were interactions between Mary and James, but a lot of focus was not devoted to it, which I assume is rather rare in fiction today. The plot twists and the attention to London in the 1850′s was wonderful and I appreciated Lee’s focus on the attitudes present in 1800s and it’s fascinating to see the differences of society, interactions and beliefs. I can’t wait to read The Body At The Tower (I’ve already ordered it from the library)!

My Rating: 4/5

Would I recommend it ? Definitely

Connor 

I love Mary, and James, and secret organizations of kickass lady spies. And also how deftly Mary's backstory is handled!! And I wasn't expecting James to be a narrator, and he was delightful!! 10/10 would read again.

I still love this series. Mary is such an engaging and endearing heroine and James is a humorous and intriguing love interest. I'm not interested enough in mysteries to be super drawn into that aspect, but the overall plot is good. The subplot about Mary's father is my favorite and definitely one of the things that makes this series stand out. 
Also, this book evokes a lot of nostalgia for me because my college roommate wrote a thesis on Victorian detective literature where women we were able to be villains or detectives because society at large underestimated what they were capable of, so a historical fiction novel based on that premise just gives me the warm fuzzies.

Alexandra Mellas

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Publication Date: 6th April 2009
Publisher: Candlewick
ISBN: 0763640670
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Adventure
Source: Bookshelf
Buy the Book
Lootability: ****

Mary Lang is a criminal, a child thief, and is scheduled to hang for her crimes. Until, that is, she is rescued by a group of extraordinary women and whisked off to safety at Miss Scrimshaws Academy For Girls as Mary Quinn.
At 17, Mary Quinn is trying to find her place in life. She's sure she's not cut out for marriage, or for life as a governess or ladies companion, so Mary rejoices when her rescuers offer her a chance to join the Agency and her adventures can begin.

What I Liked: I bought all three Agency books on www.bookdepository.com earlier this year after I failed to find a trace of them in my local libraries and bookshelves.For some reason the idea behind the Agency books struck a cord and I was desperate to read them.
Mary's introduction to us as a child headed for the noose shows us a young woman who has faced desperation. It makes her an ideal protagonist: a girl loyal to her employees, who understands the London underground, and one who is willing to put everything on the line for her cause.
Mary faces a constant struggle between who she is and the disguise she must show the world, and Lee has created an endearing inner struggle as Mary comes to terms with her cultural identity (more on that in book two).
I'm not much for mysteries, but Lee has created an adventure in Spy in the House that I want to join. There were plenty of clues (in hindsight) but just enough confusion to keep you off the scent of the culprit.
Of course, James Eaton is a constant distraction from the case and Mary refuses to acknowledge his presence as a pleasant one. The verbal sparing between the two was both sweet and entertaining.

What I Didn't Like: The intensive training Mary receives at the beginning of the book is skipped over completely and left me disappointed. Part of the appeal of a spy book is 'learning' the tricks of the trade. I also would have liked a few examples of the coded letters sent between Mary and the Agency.

The book is a wonderful first step in an exciting new series. The next book, Body at the Tower, and the third book, The Body at the Tower, have been released and we are awaiting the final instalment, Rivals in the City, sometime next year.

Paige Morgan

Admittedly, this book is grounded more in fantasy than in historical realism: there's no real attempt to capture the diction or cultural mores -- but Lee acknowledges that fantasy is partly the point: imagining an antidote to the "real" history in which her heroine would have had far less agency.

I am quite happy to engage such fantasies. This one has a few hallmarks of a debut novel, but a good debut, and I'll be back for more. Possibly recommended for fans of Pullman's Sally Lockhart books (assuming they're not sticklers for accuracy.)

Elad Schulman

I Really enjoyed A Spy in the House. With the perfect amount of action, it was a good fast read. Also, there was just enough romance to squeal out a few "awwws" while reading. 

Set in 1858 London, 17 year old orphan Mary Quinn is given a remarkable chance, to work undercover for the Agency. She is sent to a rich merchants house to try and solve the mystery of its lost cargo ships. Mary soon discovers that everybody in the household isn't what they seem, including Mary herself. 

The only thing that made me decline the 5 stars was the bit that it was confusing at times. When clues were discovered, it was more fast paced than the usual pace of the book, making it hard, as the reader, to discover the clue. 

Overall though, i really enjoyed this book :)

sarah 

Connie

Heather Miller

Sepia

Yvette Espinoza 

Sarah Tootell

Tess 

Y.S. Lee

This is a colourful, action-packed Victorian detective novel centred around the exploits of 'agent' Mary Quinn. At a young age, Mary is rescued from the gallows by a woman masquerading as a prison warden. She is taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. The school, Mary learns, is a front for a private investigation agency and, at 17, she is taken on as an agent. In her new role she is catapulted into the family home of the Thorolds to investigate the shady business dealings of Mr Thorold.

A Spy in the House

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