My enormous thanks to Rebecca at Saraband for sending me a surprise copy of Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues by Olga Wojtas. It’s my pleasure to share my review today. 

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues will be published by Saraband on 30th July 2026 and is available for purchase through the publisher links here.

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues

Morningside librarian Shona McMonagle is a proud former pupil of the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, and deeply resents a well-known novel she believes has unfairly tarnished its reputation.

In 1788 Edinburgh, the city is celebrating Robert Burns on his second visit to the capital. Burns would much rather be back in Ayrshire with his beloved Jean, but his publisher has him touring society – and his supposed muse, Nancy McLehose, is encouraging him to adopt a more marketable persona.

Shona finds herself caught up helping a teenager, Burns’s ardent admirer Walter Scott, while becoming part of a circle of clever, ambitious women. But when she is framed for the capital crime of housebreaking and condemned to the Tolbooth, she must rely on her ingenuity – and her allies – to clear her name. As events spiral, how will she resolve this muddle without bringing Enlightenment society crashing down?

My Review of Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues is an absolute delight. The only issue is that, as this is the latest stand alone in a series, I am now compelled to go back and read all the others. I thought it was fabulous. 

The story in Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues is brilliant because it has a fast pace, real characters from history and an underpinning wit that is acerbic, intelligent and truly funny. The juxtaposition of modern life and the developing arena of Edinburgh in the 1700s works perfectly with Shona as the lynchpin so that this is bookish diversion of the highest order.

The setting is so well depicted, from the male dominated coffee houses to the dramatic fervour surrounding Robert Burns, so that the reader is truly transported back in time. As well as the narrative being highly entertaining, spotting the real people from history like Burns, Walter Scott and David Hume adds to the diverting story. The exemplary level of research that has gone into an era that means the narrative is effortless and convincing to read. It’s just brilliantly entertaining.

Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues might be part of a series, but it works flawlessly as a standalone story. An insight into Miss Blaine herself is given and Shona McMonagle is, quite simply, superb. Her narrative voice rings from the pages so that she feels like an old friend and someone that anyone would want in their side. There’s a fabulous sense of her confiding in the reader which draws them still further into this compelling story.

I thought the sense of prejudice was deftly and humorously handled. The noble folk of early Edinburgh looking with pity on those from Morningside and Shona herself not averse to casting aspersions on those from Glasgow, conveying a societal approach that is only enhanced by Walter Scott’s mother’s feeling for how history repeats itself. Feminism too is portrayed brilliantly. The moments between Shona and male characters and the suggestion that women are the ones feeding the male luminaries of the Enlightenment is only enhanced when the more prosaic relationship between Walter Scott’s parents is challenged. I’m being a bit oblique here as I don’t want to spoil the read, but I loved this aspect of the story. Who knew too that a teaspoon might be so revolutionary!

I thought Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues was terrific. Every time I think back to reading it I find a smile on my face and an uplifting sense of well-being. It’s a book not to be missed. Oh, and watch out because Miss Blaine’s Prefect and the Parcel of Rogues might just surprise you with the power of poetry too!

About Olga Wojtas

 

Olga Wojtas is an unconventional – and witty – writer of cosy crime fiction whose surrealist humour has been compared to the likes of P.G. Wodehouse, Jasper Fforde, Blackadder and the Marx Brothers. She was born and brought up in Edinburgh, where she attended James Gillespie’s High School – the model for the Marcia Blaine School for Girls (in Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). Olga won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award in 2014, and has amassed an impressive following for the Miss Blaine’s Prefect series, as well as several award nominations. A journalist for more than 30 years, Olga was Scottish editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement before she began adding creative writing to her portfolio.

For further information, visit her website or follow Olga on Instagram, Facebook and X @OlgaWojtas.