Shannon, 1940. Three uncollected letters. A fourth that knows about the canary. And at the bottom: Croeso adref, Daffodil.
Shannon, 1940. Three uncollected letters have been waiting at the Shannon post office — addressed to ST Hughes, never collected. And then a fourth letter arrives, addressed not to ST but to Daphne herself. Someone knows she is looking.
The letters reveal a network ST built before he disappeared — different people holding different pieces of the same puzzle.
Three letters have been sitting, uncollected, at the Shannon post office — each addressed to ST Hughes, each unopened since before he disappeared. Then a fourth letter arrives. This one is addressed to Daphne. Someone, somewhere, knows she has started looking — and knows exactly where to find her.
The letters open a door ST never mentioned: a network of people across South Africa, each holding one piece of a larger picture, each waiting — some for years — for a Hughes to come asking. At the bottom of the fourth letter, in handwriting Daphne doesn't recognise, four words in Welsh: Croeso adref, Daffodil — welcome home, Daffodil.
Daphne's Clue Keeper fills up fast in this book, as she works the postal routes of Bloemfontein and the Orange Free State to trace each letter back to its writer — and to work out, one What Would YOU Do? decision at a time, who can still be trusted after six years of silence.
Book 3 is the story of ST's hidden network — proof that he didn't vanish without a plan, and that some of the people he trusted have been keeping their promises for years, waiting for exactly this letter to be answered.
The Bloemfontein Letters continues the Hughes Chronicles' family read-aloud format — short, clue-ended chapters built for reading together, suited to ages 8 and up. This book leans into the series' Welsh roots for the first time, with a handwritten Welsh phrase at the heart of its central mystery, making it a natural fit for families interested in Welsh historical fiction for children alongside the South African setting. As with every book in the series, the trail doesn't end at the last page — it ends with new questions that carry straight into Book 4.
The Hughes Chronicles is based on a true family story. ST Hughes was real. Daphne was real. The trail is real. The locations are rooted in real history. Where the story needed wings to fly — it was given them. The mystery at its heart has never been solved.
Continues from Book 2 — The Man With Two Watches · Leads directly into Book 4 — Old Joseph's Last Secret →
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