Harriet Bean

New York Times best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith launches a humorous mystery series that's sure to please children and their parents. Nine-year-old Harriet Bean can't believe her ears. She has aunts-five of them! Why has her absent-minded father never mentioned them before? Armed with a faceless family portrait and musty old clues, Harriet begins the quest for her long-lost aunts. But are her detective skills sufficient to track down muscular Veronica, musical Harmonica, mysterious Majolica, and the mind-reading twins Japonica and Thessalonika?

Something strange is happening to Mr. Fetlock's well-trained racehorses! Suddenly his swiftest steeds are running slowly. Sometimes they just sit down. Nine-year-old Harriet Bean is just the right size to pose as a jockey and unravel this bizarre mystery. But as Harriet sits next to Black Lightning, she has second thoughts about riding such a terrifying beast and exposing the diabolical League of Cheats.

Harriet Bean is thrilled! Her two detective aunts Thessalonika and Japonica are taking her across the vast Atlantic Ocean to the wilds of America. When they arrive at their destination, Harriet is happy to discover she has a sixth aunt-Aunt Formica the cowgirl. To add to her joy, Harriet soon learns there's also a mystery to solve. Crafty cattle rustlers are somehow stealing Aunt Formica's cows. But Harriet and her three madcap aunts must move quicker than greased lightning if they want to catch these slippery thieves and save the ranch. It's time to saddle up and follow the clues. ". Alexander McCall Smith [pens] a charming new mystery that will keep young readers guessing-and laughing-from the first clue to the last."-Fantasticfiction.co.uk