The December Rose

Nothing is what it seems in the Victorian world of espionage and counter-espionage created in a characteristically vivid and humorous style by Leon Garfield, who writes the book of the TV series. It is a world into which Barnacle, the sweep's boy, literally blunders by mistake, and which, in time, sucks into its shady, relentless tentacles his new found friends amongst the bargee people. Intrigue and treachery amongst the high folk and the low folk carries the tale forward at a lively, exciting pace right up to the unexpectedly explosive ending, where the truly bad get their just deserts, the repentant bad redeem themselves and the good and down-trodden are well-rewarded - just as it should be! The TV tie-in alone should ensure readership through the secondary school.