Alternative Detective

Thoughtfully imaginative and action-packed, Steeplejack is New York Times best-selling A. J. Hartley's YA debut set in a 19th-century South African fantasy world. Seventeen-year-old Anglet Sutonga lives and works as a steeplejack in Bar-Selehm, a sprawling city known for its great towers, spires, and smokestacks - and even greater social disparities. Ang's world is turned upside down when her new apprentice, Berrit, is murdered the same night that the city's landmark jewel is stolen.

Once a steeplejack, Anglet Sutonga is used to scaling the heights of Bar-Selehm. Nowadays she assists politician Josiah Willinghouse behind the scenes of Parliament. The latest threat to the city-state: government plans for a secret weapon are stolen and feared to be sold to the rival nation of Grappoli. The investigation leads right to the doorsteps of Elitus, one of the most exclusive social clubs in the city.