Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow

Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow is the fourth installment in the Nevermoor series of middle-grade fantasy novels written by Australian author Jessica Thompson. Previous installments saw Morrigan join the elite Wundrous Society, learn that she is a rare and talented Wundersmith, and agree to apprentice with Nevermoor’s most hated criminal. Now, 13-year-old Morrigan Crow suddenly learns that her mother’s family wants to take her in. When her aunt’s groom is murdered on their wedding day, Morrigan enlists her friends in Unit 919 to help her investigate, and their search discovers cracks in the façade of the wealthy Silver District that have deep repercussions for Morrigan’s search for a home and a place to belong. The themes of Honing One’s Abilities as a Young Adult, Defining Family Bonds, and Understanding Class Difference and Prejudice all come together to challenge Morrigan to mature quickly in a fast-paced novel that uses mystery, magic, and the hurdles of education to dramatize the perils of adolescence.

This guide is based on the first US hardcover edition published in 2025 by Hachette.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of graphic violence, illness, and death.

Plot Summary

A group of clocksmiths (people who study the passage of Ages) anticipate the turn of the Age from Morningtide to Basking, which will be signaled by the changing color of the Skyfaced clock of Nevermoor (Skyfaced clocks track these phases rather than time). While Morningtide is a gentle time, Basking is typically more dramatic and possibly more dangerous, with the new season heralded by three “disturbances”: a rising tide, a falling star, and a waking giant. When the clock face changes from pink to brilliant yellow, one young clocksmith wonders what giant has awakened.

The narrative then backtracks several months to the eve of Hallowmas. Morrigan Crow waits with her fellow classmates from Unit 919 for the Black Parade, a celebratory procession that also shepherds the restless dead away from the living. Morrigan, 13, is in her second year at the academy known as the Wundrous Society. This selective institution exists to educate students of special ability, but it also has a more secret mission: to guard the citizens of Nevermoor from the renegade creations of Wundersmiths, people who have the ability to manipulate the magical, invisible energy known as Wunder. Morrigan has been recently outed as a Wundersmith—the last one remaining in Nevermoor. During the parade, she is shocked to encounter a group of protestors demanding that she return to the territory where she was born: the Wintersea Republic, an enemy of the Free State, Nevermoor included.

Later on Hallowmas, Morrigan is summoned to continue her secret lessons in the Wundrous Arts. Her tutor is Ezra Squall, a Wundersmith who was banished from Nevermoor for killing the other Wundersmiths. Morrigan has agreed to meet with him in secret because she feels that Squall can properly teach her how to use and manipulate Wunder. Today, Squall introduces Morrigan to the Guiltghast, an enormous, water-dwelling, jellyfish-like monster that feeds on guilt—typically, the dead souls led to it on Hallowmas. Because the Black Parade was interrupted, the monster is now hungry and possibly dangerous.

Morrigan lives at the Deucalion Hotel with her guardian and patron, Jupiter North. She is surprised when she is summoned to the elegant Silver District, a guarded place where rich and important families live. Morrigan learns now that her mother, who died when Morrigan was born, came from Darling House, one of the Great Houses of the Silver District. The Darling family, having recently learned of Morrigan’s existence, wants to take her in. Morrigan is deeply upset that Jupiter knew about the Darlings but never told Morrigan about them.

Morrigan’s first meeting with her three aunts—Margot, Miriam, and Modestine—goes badly. Morrigan senses that her grandmother, Lady Mallory Darling, doesn’t approve of her. Upset, Morrigan invokes Wunder and accidentally destroys the elegant parlor; she then freezes time without knowing how she did it. Squall appears and explains that Morrigan has invoked Tempus, one of the Wundrous Arts. He then helps her escape back to the hotel.

Morrigan is certain the family will want nothing more to do with her, but Aunt Modestine invites Morrigan to her wedding. The celebration is a sumptuous affair, concluding with a performance by the Rinaldi family’s valuable dragon. However, the festivities end when the groom, Dario Rinaldi, is murdered. The wedding planner, who is an outsider in the Silver District, is arrested shortly thereafter, but Cadence Blackburn, one of Morrigan’s classmates and friends, takes it upon herself to investigate Dario’s death.

After Morrigan attends a memorial service for Dario, she quarrels with Jupiter, leaves the Hotel Deucalion, and moves into Darling House. Her aunts appear to welcome her, and Aunt Margot frequently asks Morrigan to perform magic for their friends. Lady Darling is reportedly ill and keeps to her room.

Squall insists on continuing Morrigan’s lessons, including having her practice the art of summoning. At school, Morrigan learns that a task force has been created to determine what to do with the Guiltghast. She feels that she is making little progress investigating Dario’s murder. In the meantime, the Rinaldis’ dragon is performing poorly at the competitive and highly popular Winter Trials, which one of Morrigan’s classmates and friends, dragonrider Hawthorne Swift, wants to take part in.

Morrigan begins to feel increasingly ill at ease with the Darlings, and she suspects that her Aunt Margot is interested in her only because Morrigan, as a Wundersmith, adds to the family’s prestige. One night while searching for clues, Morrigan finds a packet of letters from Jupiter North, in which Jupiter pleads with Lady Darling to acknowledge and adopt Morrigan. Morrigan realizes that Jupiter lied to protect her, while the Darlings are lying about a great deal more. She begins to suspect that Aunt Margot is the murderer and gathers her friends with plans to stage a confrontation on the night of her birthday ball.

On the night of the ball, Morrigan uses her skill at Wunder to impress and intimidate the party guests with the goal of securing a confession. While doing so, however, she accidentally summons the Guiltghast, who exposes Tobias, Margot’s husband, as Dario’s murderer. Tobias tried to blackmail Dario into poisoning the Rinaldis’ dragon so that Tobias could win a bet. When Dario refused to comply, Tobias stabbed him. Lady Darling discovered his guilt, and Tobias has since been poisoning her to keep her silent.

When Morrigan sees the destruction and harm that the Guiltghast is causing, she panics and freezes time again. Squall appears and agrees to help her turn back time long enough to send the Guiltghast away. This time, Morrigan must secure justice with only her friends to help her. Together, they expose Tobias as the murderer.

Morrigan makes Jupiter an apology cake, only to find he has also baked an apology cake for her. They speak honestly, and Morrigan admits that she wants to continue being Ezra Squall’s apprentice because of how much she can learn from him. Jupiter doesn’t trust Squall, but he is learning that he needs to give Morrigan more responsibility and choice in decisions that affect her. Morrigan is happy to be surrounded by the people she now knows are her real family—her Unit 919 classmates, Jupiter, and others who live at the Hotel Deucalion. She is also happy to have mastered a second Wundrous Art and is eager to learn more.