It was during the 1880s in Northern England that Jessie Smith, just thirteen years old, came to work for Ezekiel Dobson, owner of a high-class grocer's shop in the market town of Lambton.

Although his shop was a cave of treasures -- ruby-red hams, old-gold cheeses, emerald-green apples -- he was the most miserly man in Lambton.

Even the townspeople called him "Throttlepenny" behind his back.

Soon the old man's meanness of mind and spirit began to wear Jessie down. And after Ezekiel was found murdered, suspicion -- and the threat of hanging -- fell on her.

Yes, it was true she hated him, but no more than many children hate adults who behave unpleasantly to them, and she had never really meant to harm him.

But now Jessie must fight to save her life and, in so doing, solve the mystery of the Throttlepenny Murder.

This is a gripping, whodunit novel that powerfully evokes the harsh realities of a working-class Victorian childhood.