“We can’t let the rarest monkey in India become a pet or a performing animal. It needs to be returned to the forest, where it belongs. Come on, cholo!”
A thrilling adventure following three children through the Indian jungle in the 1800s. Roma Moreau can’t stand her boarding school, the prissy Miss Oliphant’s, and wants to be a doctor, but her father won’t allow it. Then she discovers a rare golden leaf-eating monkey – and it has in its paws a mysterious treasure, the Snake Stone. The monkey is stolen by bandits, and Roma sets off to rescue it and return it to its secret home in the jungle. Along the way, the cursed Snake Stone brings her new friends and enemies. The characters draw on real historical figures from the period, as well as members of the author’s own family, as a fascinating author’s note makes clear. A really special feature of the book is the ambigram illustrations – riddling pictures that can be read one way, then turned upside down to read another way. This book is a companion to Secrets of the Snakestone, which was a Times Children’s Book of the Week and shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize.
The Golden Monkey Mystery is a Middle grade historical-fantasy adventure published by Nosy Crow in January 2026. It’s 232 pages long (proof copy) and aimed at children aged 9-12.
Reviewed by Leila Rasheed