The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery
by Mitali Perkins; illus. by Maithili Joshi
Intermediate, Middle School    Charlesbridge    128 pp.
10/25    9781623543730    $15.99

Perkins intertwines a page-turning mystery featuring a plucky young sleuth with a thoughtful exploration of class, gender, and opportunity. Twelve-year-old Sona, a Nepali girl in present-day Darjeeling, India, has been granted a scholarship to the elite Darjeeling International School, but only if she can pass a daunting English exam. Pressures at home add to the challenge. Her mother works long hours on a tea plantation, while her older brother, Samiran, already indebted to the plantation manager, struggles to find work after being falsely accused of theft. Sona’s friend Tara, eighteen and Bengali, faces her own difficult future: an arranged marriage to a cruel older man who seems interested only in the gold jewelry her late parents left her. When the jewelry vanishes the same day Sona helps Tara sneak a last look at it, suspicion falls on Samiran. To protect her brother and help her friend, Sona resolves to uncover the thief. Perkins grounds the mystery in a vividly realized social landscape as she explores such issues as water scarcity and the exploitative structures of plantation life to the limits placed on girls’ ambitions. Joshi’s expressive black-and-white illustrations enhance the mood and setting. Short chapters and brisk pacing make the novel accessible, while its themes invite deeper discussion.

From the November/December 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.