'My first thought is that it's a pig that someone has lost to the river. Perhaps it fell off one of the barges that choke up the Thames. They're a constant feature, toiling up and down, day and night, giving off black smoke that clings to the water.' Joe (15) and Edie (13) are orphans living in Victorian London. Forever worried that they will be sent to the dreaded workhouse, they scratch out a living the best way they can by mudlarking on the foreshore of the River Thames and selling their finds to the nortorious Hempson. One day they discover something macabre, and it will change their lives forever.  The Grinning Throat is the first in the trilogy of The Mudlark Mysteries.  Written by award winnng author, Kate Wiseman, it is historical fiction at its best. Suitable for readers from age 9 and upwards