The Hatmakers

Cordelia lives in a London where five Maker families put real magic into the things they craft: the Hatmakers, Bootmakers, Watchmakers, Cloakmakers and Glovemakers. She belongs to the Hatmakers. Her father, Prospero, has taught her the trade, from hunting rare ingredients to pressing wishes into felt and thread.

Then Prospero's ship is lost at sea. Her aunt and uncle, grieving, throw themselves into a royal commission for a Peace Hat, an object meant to end a war before it begins.

Cordelia refuses to believe her father is dead. Her doubt sharpens when the items commissioned for the peace effort begin to vanish one by one. She concludes that someone is working against the Guild itself.

Whoever is behind the thefts may also know what happened to Prospero. That gives Cordelia a reason to dig deeper, even as the family around her is absorbed in its commission and its mourning.

The adventure has a warm tone and is built around a family craft and a missing father. Cordelia has to trace the thief before the war the Peace Hat was meant to stop arrives.