Author(s): Caroline Lawrence

Middle Fiction 8-12-year-olds

Virginia City in 1862 is a mining camp sitting above a rich vein of silver in America's Wild West. It's a dangerous place, full of gamblers, hurdy girls and gunmen - all of them on the make! When twelve year-old P.K. Pinkerton arrives there, homeless, penniless and hunted, things don't look good. But P.K. soon finds allies in Sam Clemens, a newspaper reporter, Poker Face Jace, a gambler who can tell when someone is bluffing, and Ping, a Chinese photographer's apprentice. With the help of these friends - and armed with a Smith & Wesson seven-shooter and a knack for disguises - P.K. takes on the tricksters and desperados and tries to become a detective. Fast, furious and funny - an utterly entertaining mystery adventure from an author who knows exactly how to grip and thrill her readers.