The Mystery of Argruth Manor has the trappings of a classic gothic children’s mystery—orphans, a lonely mansion, a prisoner, a mysterious mustachioed stranger, and an old stone well that’s actually a tunnel to another realm. Set in Eastern Washington in 1912 and in ancient Egypt, the story is aimed at middle grade readers. Although it can stand alone, this manuscript is the first of a proposed five volume series united by a cohesive narrative arc.
When Alice Abernathy dies, Victor, who is thirteen, makes a proposal to his younger siblings: bury mother’s body in the backyard and enjoy complete freedom from adult supervision. His ten-year-old sister Agatha reluctantly agrees, but finds the unsupervised life more complicated than she’d expected: the family mansion is lonely with only Victor and the contemptible twins for company, food is hard to come by, covering up the absence of parents requires creativity, and the sinister new inhabitant of the neighboring mansion, Argruth Manor, appears to be spying on the children. When Agatha discovers that the well in their backyard is a tunnel through time in space, stints in 18th century France and ancient Egypt solve some of her problems but invite a new series of questions about her mysterious neighbor and her family's murky past.
When Alice Abernathy dies, Victor, who is thirteen, makes a proposal to his younger siblings: bury mother’s body in the backyard and enjoy complete freedom from adult supervision. His ten-year-old sister Agatha reluctantly agrees, but finds the unsupervised life more complicated than she’d expected: the family mansion is lonely with only Victor and the contemptible twins for company, food is hard to come by, covering up the absence of parents requires creativity, and the sinister new inhabitant of the neighboring mansion, Argruth Manor, appears to be spying on the children. When Agatha discovers that the well in their backyard is a tunnel through time in space, stints in 18th century France and ancient Egypt solve some of her problems but invite a new series of questions about her mysterious neighbor and her family's murky past.