Find Another Book

Book details

V for Violet

Alison Rattle - Author

This historical mystery pairs Violet’s hopes for a more exciting life with a family mystery and a series of murders. As girls go missing and being murdered, Violet suspects Joseph may be hiding a terrible secret.

More about this book

Battersea, 1961. London is just beginning to enter the swinging sixties. The world is changing - but not for sixteen-year-old Violet. She was born at the exact moment Winston Churchill announced Victory in Europe - an auspicious start, but now she's just stuck in her family's fish and chip shop dreaming of greatness. And it doesn't look like fame and fortune are going to come calling anytime soon. Then she meets Beau. Beau's a rocker - a motorcycle boy who arrives in an explosion of passion and rebellion. He blows up Violet's grey little life, and she can't believe her luck. But things don't go her way for long. Joseph, her long-lost brother, comes home. Then young girls start going missing, and turning up murdered. And then Violet's best friend disappears too. Suddenly life is horrifyingly much more interesting. Violet can't believe its coincidence that Joseph turns up just as girls start getting murdered. He's weird, and she feels sure he's hiding something. He's got a secret, and Violet's got a dreadful feeling it might be the worst kind of secret of all...

Add to Compare Explore

Book Analysis

At a Glance

Discover

Family secrets· ExplainedMurder mystery· Explained

Consider

Violence and harmFear and suspenseViolence

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

family secretsmurder mystery

Fiction

Themes in Context

Suspicion and the mystery

Joseph returns as girls begin going missing and being murdered; Violet suspects he may be connected.Exploratory / explanatory

How the book presents it: Violet’s suspicion of Joseph gives the mystery a personal focus as she tries to make sense of the girls’ disappearances and murders.

Talk about: What evidence supports Violet’s suspicions, and what might point to another explanation?

Why It May Be Worth Reading

The setting places Violet’s personal upheaval against a changing London in 1961. The story may suit a reader interested in historical mysteries and family secrets.

What Deserves Attention

Girls go missing and are found murdered; Violet’s best friend also disappears. These events bring death, danger and the threat of loss into the story.

A Conversation Worth Having

How does Violet distinguish what she knows about Joseph from what she fears, and what clues would make you trust or question her suspicions?

Reading Approach

If the murders or disappearances feel intense, read in shorter stretches and pause to check in. You could also agree to talk through unsettling scenes as they arise.

Confidence & Basis

Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.

What remains unconfirmed

Suspicion and the mystery: The outcome of the mystery and the narrative’s final view of Violet’s suspicions are not established.

V for Violet - Alison Rattle - Google Books

Limited information

Checked: 2 October 2026.

Relevant to: Suspicion and the mystery

V for Violet by Alison Rattle | Open Library