Publisher:
Corgi
Release
Date: 5th
June 2014
Edition:
UK proof,
review copy
The
first gripping Agatha Cristie-style mystery starring a brilliant new double
act: feisty, funny, schoolgirl detectives, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong.
When
Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency
at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find any truly exciting
mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia’s missing tie.
Which they don’t, really.)
But
then Hazel discovers the Sciecne Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym.
She thinks it must have been a terrible accident – but when she and Daisy
return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls know a
murder must have taken place...and there’s more than one person at Deepdean
with a motive.
Now
Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove a murder
happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime
before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first,
naturally), Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and
use all the cunning, scheming and intuition they can muster. But will they
succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?
It took me weeks of hearing how
charming and fun and utterly wonderful Murder
Most Unladylike is before I caved and requested it from NetGalley – it’s
just not something I would pick up myself. I am so, so glad I listened to my
Twitter feed!
A middle grade murder mystery
set in a 1930s all girls boarding school brings too things to mind immediately:
Nancy Drew and Enid Blyton – two things I bypassed completely in my childhood. They
never appealed to me and now having read Murder
Most Unladylike, I have no idea why. I think I missed out. I love the
strong sense of place of a boarding school, the subtle differences of a
familiar environment set eighty years ago, the intense friendships forged and
how easy it is to sneak out in the middle of the night to investigate a murder.
The novel was set out in a way
that suited the story perfectly. It was segmented into developments of the Case
of Miss Bell as the book itself is Hazel Wong writing up their investigation as
the Detective Society Secretary. I really liked the handwritten suspect list
which was updated every so often with new evidence, alibis, motives and ruling
outs. I especially liked this set up as Hazel is the sidekick in the operation
for the most part of the novel, and yet it’s her that’s telling the story.
Daisy is the President of the
Detective Society and she calls the shots. I have to admit that I ended up
really disliking Daisy at points during the novel. Daisy and Hazel have a very
unequal friendship, and though it’s not malicious or purposeful on Daisy’s
part, I hate the way she pushed Hazel around and disregarded her opinions and
feelings. I’ve been the sidekick in a lot of friendships and I know how
horrible it can be – it made me react irrationally strongly to some of the
exchanges between the girls! But both girls are such strong characters, each
with different skills and personality traits to lend to their investigations
which made them a brilliant detective duo.
The strength of character
extended the whole cast of the novel, especially the teachers. Each was so
distinct and played really strong roles in the hunt for Miss Bell’s character –
it’s a great way to explore one of those things that was fascinating in primary
and middle school – The Secret Lives of Teachers. It’s made me start to wonder
all over again what my favourite teachers were up to...
Murder
Most unladylike is
witty, charming and so much fun and I can’t recommend it enough. I’m so glad
book two, Arsenic for Tea, is coming
out in January.
Thanks to RHCP and NetGalley
for the review copy.
Sophie
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