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The Blurb On The Back:

Join The Frosty Foul Play

Cat-napping and crazy heists, suspicious Santas and scrabble games, frost fairs and fancy dress … join the Very Merry Murder Club and put your detective skills to the test with these fiendishly fun and festive mysteries.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Serena Patel and Robin Stevens’s anthology of 13 winter-themed crime short stories for readers aged 9+ is a disappointing affair. None of the stories are bad but equally none of them really gripped me or stood out. I liked Harry Woodgate’s illustrations, which bring scenes from some of the stories to life and the diversity of characters and backgrounds is good but ultimately this was a collection that left me cold rather than cheered.

The Blurb On The Back:

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are back at Deepdean School for Girls, where plans are underway for a most exciting event: the Anniversary Weekend.

But as parents arrive at Deepdean, LONG-BURIED RIVALRIES AND SECRETS begin to surface. Then a shocking incident takes place in the woods. The girls are convinced THIS IS MURDER - and everything points to one of the parents.

And unless the killer is caught, DEEPDEAN WILL CLOSE FOREVER.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The 8th book in Robin Stevens’s crime mystery series for readers aged 9+ is another cunning mystery filled with red herrings and clever twists. Daisy and Hazel’s characters and relationship are developed further and depth is given to Lavinia and Beanie but with all the students and parents at Deepdean I sometimes struggled to keep track of who was who although that is a minor quibble given how tightly this is plotted and how fast it moves.

The Blurb On The Back:

"A terrible thing has happened, a thing that the Detective Society must investigate. But this time I am not just a detective, I'm a witness. And I think that I might even be a suspect …"

When Hazel Wong's beloved grandfather passes away, Daisy Wells joins Hazel on a visit to her family's estate in beautiful, bustling Hong Kong.

But they are greeted with a shock: there's a new member of the Wong family! As if that isn't enough, tragedy soon strikes not once but twice. There's been a murder and a kidnap and no one is safe from suspicion … not even Hazel.

The girls must work together like never before, confronting dangerous gangs and sinister private detectives to solve the crimes and discover the villain - before it's too late.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The sixth in Robin Stevens's crime series for children aged 9+ is probably the best yet combining another twisting mystery with great character development for both Hazel and Daisy (especially as we see more of Hazel's family and her interaction with them) and a great location in 1930s Hong Kong that combines the Western and Chinese elements very well such that I'm already desperate to see what happens to the girls next.

The Blurb On The Back:

”These attacks are not merely pranks or accidents,” said Daisy gravely. “They are intended – and I believe something truly terrible will happen before Christmas Day.”

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the Christmas hols in snowy Cambridge. Hazel has high hopes of its beautiful libraries and inviting tea-rooms – but there is danger lurking in the dark stairwells of Maudlin College.

Two days before Christmas, a brutal accident takes place – but the Detective Society suspect murder. Faced with fierce competition from a rival agency, they must use all their cunning and courage to find the killer (in time for Christmas Day, of course).

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The fifth in Robin Stevens’s bestselling middle grade crime series is another fiendishly plotted murder mystery with the added complication of a love triangle between Wells, Wong and Alexander and the introduction of newcomer George Mukherjee, a British Indian with an intellect and strength of will to match Daisy’s. Stevens shows that female students at Cambridge were treated as second-class citizens (both through having limited funds and because they weren’t entitled to be awarded degrees) and well uses the real secret Cambridge climbing society. I also enjoyed how Stevens develops the wedge put in Wells and Wong’s friendship in JOLLY FOUL PLAY, throwing in Hazel’s crush on Alexander and Alexander’s crush on Daisy to add emotional tension but then introducing the practical and intelligent George who shares many of Hazel’s experiences with racism and has an intellect to match Daisy’s to avoid what could be yet another dull love triangle. In fact Stevens does particularly well at highlighting 1930s racism, including the blatant abuse suffered by Chinese student Alfred Chung at Chummy’s hands and also Daisy and Hazel’s assumptions about George’s ethnicity. The only bum notes are the way a constable is left to investigate the deaths (which I didn’t quite believe) and the fact that the bodies aren’t immediately removed while the reaction to a revelation at the end of the book didn’t quite ring true for the times to me but otherwise I really enjoyed this book and look forward to book 6.

The Blurb On The Back:

Daisy’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Hazel, we are up against an extremely cunning murderer – a worthy opponent for our third case! I have the feeling that this may be the Detective Society’s most exciting adventure yet!

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are taking a holiday on the famous Orient Express. From the moment the girls step aboard, it’s clear that everyone in the first-class carriage has something to hide.

Then there is a scream from one of the cabins, and a wealthy heiress is found dead. But the killer has vanished – as if into thin air …

Daist and Hazel are faced with their first locked-room mystery – and with competition from several other sleuths, who are just as determined to crack the case.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The third in Robin Stevens’ delightful crime series for children aged 9+ has the Wells and Wong detective duo tackle their first locked room mystery. The comparison with Agatha Christie’s MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is inevitable but Wells and Wong are a match for Poirot and I really enjoyed how each girl complements the other’s skills. It was good to see more of Hazel and her father and the tension that comes from her strict Chinese upbringing compared to her more liberal British education. Also worth commenting on is how well Stevens does in portraying the casual racism that people like Hazel and her father face because of their ethnicity together with Daisy’s obliviousness to it and by showing Hazel’s feelings about it, Stevens allows readers to understand how unpleasant it really is. The mystery itself has plenty of twists and turns and a homage to an Agatha Christie short story (which I won’t spoil) and I liked the introduction of Alexander, an American would-be detective and junior Pinkerton agent who Daisy is spectacularly Daisy-ish to. If I’m going to nit pick, then I wasn’t completely convinced by the behaviour of one returning character but it did work in the context of the novel. All in all, this is shaping up to be one of my all-time children’s book series and I honestly cannot wait to see what the girls do next.

The Blurb On The Back:

”Are you sure we shouldn’t just go to the police?” I asked.
“Don’t be stupid,” said Daisy severely. “We don’t have any evidence yet. We don’t even have a body. They’d simply laugh at us. No, we’re on our own. And anyway, this is our murder case.”

When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up a secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they can’t find a truly exciting mystery to investigate. (Unless you count The Case of Lavinia’s Missing Tie. Which they don’t.)

Then Hazel discovers the body of the Science Mistress, Miss Bell – but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls have to solve a murder, and prove a murder happened in the first place, before the killer strikes again (and before the police get there first, naturally).

But will they succeed?

And can their friendship stand the test?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Robin Stevens’ debut novel (the first in a series) is a delightful crime thriller for children aged 9+ that reads like Agatha Christie meets Enid Blyton. Stevens clearly loves the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and it shines through this book with the neat puzzle of the central murder and a full cast of potential suspects, each with their own motives and suspicious behaviours. Daisy and Hazel are an interesting duo – both come from a life of moneyed privilege but while Daisy is very much part of the English establishment, Hazel (with her Chinese parentage) will always be an outsider. I particularly liked how Stevens shows the casual racism at play in 1930s society and how that hurts Hazel, who tries so hard to fit in. I also liked how the tensions that develop between the girls magnifies their own insecurities and forces them to examine themselves and their own actions. Daisy and Hazel are given a fun array of classmates - my favourite being the hapless Beanie and also the younger girls who hero-worship Daisy and serve as her willing minions – but the teachers are equally entertaining and there’s a lot of truth in the depiction of the girls’ collective crush on their art teacher, The One. For all that this is a murder mystery, there really isn’t a lot of violence - beyond the murder anyway - although Stevens does ratchet up the tension and suspense in the final quarter as she brings events to a head. Ultimately, this is a really fun read and I can’t wait for the next book.