Jack of Spades

It's May 1910 and 16 year old Linda Duke has just received a strange message: a playing card, the Jack of Spades, in an envelope that was sent from Paris, where her widowed father, impoverished Shakespearean scholar Professor Charles Duke, has gone on a research trip. In the family code, 'Jack of Spades' means treachery and danger. But it is not her father's handwriting on the envelope!

Linda, convinced he is in great danger, sets out immediately to Paris to look for him. And so begins an extraordinary adventure, that will take her deep into the heart of the city; not only its bright, light daylight world of music and gaiety and good times, but also the dark and dangerous world of criminal Paris. Who are the people following Linda? What was her father really doing in Paris? Who can she really trust? Linda begins to understand that she has stumbled into a daring, deadly plot, and that time is fast running out-for her father, herself, her friends-and the future of France and the rest of the world. And that it is up to her now to stop the conspiracy, in a world where treachery and betrayal seem to reign supreme.

Full of the glamorous, dangerous atmosphere of 1910's Paris, with a spirited, intelligent heroine and a great cast of vivid and engaging characters, this is a gripping thriller for readers 10-14, set at the time of the beginnings of the European secret service agencies.

About the Author

Born in Indonesia to French parents and brought up in Australia and France, Sophie Masson is the award-winning and internationally-published author of over 60 books, for children, young adults and adults.

Her work ranges over many genres, from historical to contemporary fiction, fantasy to thrillers, novels to picture books, as well as essays, short stories and poetry.