Creep beneath the streets of Paris with this darkly gothic debut from Piu DasGupta, perfect for 9+ readers.

Meet Zélie Dutta. She has beaten her own father five times at chess (the last time he cheated). She has crushed the head of a poisonous cobra with her naked heel AND she can lick her elbow.

There’s nothing that she can’t handle... or at least that’s what she thinks. But when her father goes missing and a sinister secret society seems to be to blame, she’s forced to look for help in the most unlikely of places...

Swept up in a slew of crimes that stretch from the jungles of Calcutta to the sewers of Paris, Zélie and her new friend Jules begin a desperate hunt for the magical Snakestone at the heart of the conspiracy. Can they solve the ancient riddles and mysteries concealed in the miles of murky tunnels that twist beneath the ancient city above?

Tingling with magic and steeped in legends from colonial India, Secrets of the Snakestone draws readers into the underbelly of nineteenth century Paris for a menacing adventure from a thrillingly imaginative new voice.