Swept Away: Ruth Mornay and the Unwanted Clues

Unlike the rest of the people in her small town, Ruth Mornay does not believe that the death of her sixty-four-year-old neighbor Beatrice was an accident. Word has it that Bea was swept away by the flooded Teeswater River, but Bea was the head of the Teeswater River Embankment Rehabilitation Society, so Ruth knows her friend would never be so careless.

Bea’s godson Saul adds to Ruth’s suspicions when he claims that Bea had premonitions about her murder and has left Ruth a box of clues to figure out what really happened. But what could a frog-shaped sprinkler, a mismatched pair of ladies’ gloves, and an ugly flower picture made of human hair possibly have to do with Bea’s death? That’s the case Saul, Ruth, and Ruth’s wayward pet chicken Dorcas, have to crack.

Natalie Hyde is the author of both fiction and non-fiction for middle-grade and young adult readers. Her works include Saving Armpit, I Owe You One, and Cryptic Canada, and her books have received award nominations in both Canada and the US. Hyde is her family’s genealogist ― the “keeper of the bones” ― and has traced her father’s family back to the 1700s in Canada. She currently lives in Flamborough, Ontario.