Young Hector decides to take revenge upon the man who caused his fa ther’s demise. Hector’s passion for lepidopterology and his talent for posing and solving riddles prove the means by which he can pursue the perpetrator (whose own obsession for collecting glass eyes keeps him on the move). Hec tor enters a world where deception is the norm and seemingly the only way to change one’s station in life. Readers of Higgins’s previous books, The Black Book of Secrets and The Bone Magician, will recognize characters and places where and for whom the line between anonymity and notoriety is precarious. 2010 USBBY Outstanding International Books List. bef

Originally published by Macmillan Children’s Books Great Britain, in 2009.

Although Hector Fitzbaudly has always lived a plush life on the posh side of the River Foedus, he's yearned to slip away from his comfortable home and see the seedy side of Urbs Umida. Unfortunately, he gets his chance when a blackmail artist confronts his father with a terrible secret from his past, and Hector finds himself penniless and on the streets. He is determined to get his revenge against the man responsible, who has been a pauper, a gentleman, and an Eyeball Collector—stealing jewels from the wealthy to make false eyes to replace his missing one. He is a master of disguise, and a swindler who moves from place to place.

Hector trails the Eyeball Collector to the small village of Pagus Parvus and the foreboding Withypitts Hall, run by the eccentric Lady Mandible who has a strange taste for the macabre. He takes a job incubating butterflies for Lady Mandible, and places himself in the perfect position to take revenge. Hector is so close to the Eyeball Collector, but will he be able to go through with his plan?

Once again, F. E. Higgins takes readers into her world filled with grand balls and hairy-backed beasts, plotting nobility and clever orphans, and creates a spine-tingling story that is her most eerie yet.