"The Woolpack" by Cynthia Harnett

 Winner of the Carnegie Medal in 1951.

Nicholas Fetterlock is the son of a Cotswold wool merchant in 1493.  During the negotiations for his betrothal, Nicholas and his bride-to-be try to find out who is stealing his father's wool and substituting rubbish; this has led to trouble with the Staple, the quasi-legal trade body that governs wool exports. Is it the mysterious bankers from Lombardy, led by the ultra-suave Messer Antonio Bari? 

I loved this book when I first read it at the age of nine, I have read it many times since. The final sentence always brings a lump to my throat. It has got an exciting mystery at the heart of it and all the historical colour that you could want. The characters are well-drawn and the pace is perfect (the first real clue is given exactly half way through). A children's classic.

"I'd rather have a devil clad in fiery scales than a devil clad in silk." (Ch 5)

June 2021; 238 pages

Harnett also wrote The Load of Unicorn

This review was written by the author of Motherdarling  and The Kids of God