The first book in The Trapdoor Mysteries, a series about Tally, a code-breaking, animal-loving servant girl and her best friend, a squirrel named Squill, who solve mysteries with the help of a secret library...

Ten-year-old Tally is a servant girl at Mollett Manor. She sleeps in the scullery sink, and spends her days scrubbing, polishing and ironing (when she's not secretly reading books). Then Tally and her squirrel friend, Squill, find a secret library hidden under the manor - a magical library where the books come to life! When Mollett Manor is burgled, can Tally use the knowledge she finds in the books to catch the criminals? Can they even help her solve the mystery of her missing mother?

This is book 1 in The Trapdoor Mysteries .

There are 192 pages in this book. This book was published 2018 by Hachette Children's Group .

Abie Longstaff wrote the Tally and Squill books because she wanted to feature an intelligent, inquisitive heroine who solves crimes by the power of her brain! James Brown is an illustrator and printmaker living and working in London. Trained as a textile and surface print designer, he worked in the clothing industry for 10 years. James Brown embarked on a new career as an illustrator in 2006 and has sold his prints through Cath Kidston. This is his first baby book.