The Tangled Web
Tea Cooper
Reviewed by Helen
For me you can never go wrong with a Tea Cooper story and this one is absolutely amazing, it pulled me in with a tale of mystery, a story from 1892 that starts in Sydney and then ends in Maitland, a must read.
Sydney 1892 sixteen year old Viola Oswald has just lost her younger brother Sebastian to the disease Haemophilia, her mother is pregnant with her stepfather’s baby and Viola is devastated and so worried about what her step-father Dr. Sinclair has done with Sebastian in his treatments, so when her uncle in Brisbane asks her to visit she is more than happy but is determined to be back before her mother has the baby hoping it is a sister and not a brother.
The journey is a long one on the train and she has one of Sebastian’s favourite books Lamb’s Tales of Shakespeare, when she starts reading she finds a letter in code and notes hidden within the pages this then sees Viola get of the train at Maitland in search of a boy who can help her prove what her stepfather has done and continuing to do.
When she arrives she decides to change into her street clothes and dress as a young boy she feels that this will be safer soon she is being hauled by a young homeless boy to meet another young boy and soon after a terrible discovery in a lane she is heading for a camp under the bridge with a bunch of homeless young boys and becomes Tuppence but this could be her chance to find the one she is looking for, will she find him, it is not long before she has made friends with a young woman Taylor who works at the local lawyers office and Viola opens up to Taylor about the truth also part of the truth to Cracker the boy who runs the homeless boys.
But worry for her mother and the boy she knows as Mouse soon finds her and Taylor on their bay back to Sydney and what they uncover is shocking but will it put a stop to Dr. Sinclair and his experiments?
WOW what an adventure this one was it shows what life was life back then in Maitland in 1892 and also the medical issues of people suffering from Haemophilia. The strength and courage that Viola (Tuppence) showed as she spent her time living rough with the young homeless boys and how she grew to care for them all and I loved that Taylor and Maisie were in this one after having met them in MS. Coopers previous book, I loved this one so much and highly recommend it, it is brilliant and very hard to put down, I loved all of of the characters the boys especially.
My thanks to HQ Fiction and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.
Sydney 1892 sixteen year old Viola Oswald has just lost her younger brother Sebastian to the disease Haemophilia, her mother is pregnant with her stepfather’s baby and Viola is devastated and so worried about what her step-father Dr. Sinclair has done with Sebastian in his treatments, so when her uncle in Brisbane asks her to visit she is more than happy but is determined to be back before her mother has the baby hoping it is a sister and not a brother.
The journey is a long one on the train and she has one of Sebastian’s favourite books Lamb’s Tales of Shakespeare, when she starts reading she finds a letter in code and notes hidden within the pages this then sees Viola get of the train at Maitland in search of a boy who can help her prove what her stepfather has done and continuing to do.
When she arrives she decides to change into her street clothes and dress as a young boy she feels that this will be safer soon she is being hauled by a young homeless boy to meet another young boy and soon after a terrible discovery in a lane she is heading for a camp under the bridge with a bunch of homeless young boys and becomes Tuppence but this could be her chance to find the one she is looking for, will she find him, it is not long before she has made friends with a young woman Taylor who works at the local lawyers office and Viola opens up to Taylor about the truth also part of the truth to Cracker the boy who runs the homeless boys.
But worry for her mother and the boy she knows as Mouse soon finds her and Taylor on their bay back to Sydney and what they uncover is shocking but will it put a stop to Dr. Sinclair and his experiments?
WOW what an adventure this one was it shows what life was life back then in Maitland in 1892 and also the medical issues of people suffering from Haemophilia. The strength and courage that Viola (Tuppence) showed as she spent her time living rough with the young homeless boys and how she grew to care for them all and I loved that Taylor and Maisie were in this one after having met them in MS. Coopers previous book, I loved this one so much and highly recommend it, it is brilliant and very hard to put down, I loved all of of the characters the boys especially.
My thanks to HQ Fiction and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.
5 stars
October 28, 2025 by HQ Fiction
