There’s an absolute bumper crop of brilliant books out this summer, but my pick has to be the first in a brand new series, The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries by JT Williams (June, Farshore). The story is set in C18th London, and centres around Lizzie Sancho, and her friend Dido Belle as they try to find out who is threatening to murder Lizzie’s father, Ignatius, before his debut performance on the West End stage. Expect high-speed action, lavish period detail, complicated friendships and plenty of drama. It’s a fabulously told story- I couldn’t put it down!- and also gives voice to the experiences of people of colour in the C18th. Dido Belle and Ignatius Sancho were real people whose lives make for interesting reading. The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries does what, in my view, great historical fiction should do- it tells a cracking story from the view of someone you might not find in the history books

Author, J.T. Williams. Illustrator, Simone Douglas

"Expect high-speed action, lavish period detail, complicated friendships and plenty of drama"