Book Review: Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens

Summary:
Deepdean School for Girls, 1934. When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency, 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 Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She thinks it must all 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?

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What Do

Sherlock Holmes is a detective that I have always enjoyed and crime investigation novels have always intrigued me so when I heard about Murder Most Unladylike, I knew that I wanted to read it. After hearing fab things about it, I finally set around to reading it and am glad to say that I really enjoyed it. Murder Most Unladylike is a fun little middle grade book that I think many children and adults would really like. I’m definitely intrigued to see what happens in the next installment!

You Do

There were a lot of characters in this book but only two worth mentioning; Wells and Wong. I adored this duo throughout the book, however Hazel (Wong) was by far my favourite of the two. Hazel was such an interesting character with a lot of depth. I did also like Daisy but as she was more outspoken and confident, I just found myself enjoying reading about Hazel more. The pair rerally work well together as a team – eventually! – and I cannot wait to see what they get up to next.

When No One

Murder Most Unladylike was, simply put, an easy book to read. It wasn’t simple, but it wasn’t overly complicated either and I really liked that about it. It makes it a great read for children and a brilliant escape for adults. The book deals with dark topics (murder) and themes and while it does generally do this in a good way, there were moments when I felt a little concerned about some of the reactions of the children which put me off the book a little. Fortunately though, these moments were few and far between and everntually disappeared completely. There is also a hint of humour in the style that I really enjoyed. It made this crime book more exciting and fresh. I loved that Daisy and Hazel set about solving the murder without the help of adults. It really helped to make this into a fun refreshing children’s book.

Believes You

Murder Most Unladylike is a fun, enjoyable read that is full of mystery and drama. I found it to be a really entertaining book and perfect when you just want a book to easily escape into. It is also a book that is fun to try and figure out alongside Hazel and Daisy, bringing with it a sense of intrigue. I would recommend this book to children 9+ and to any adult that wants a bit of fun and wants to relive their childhood a little bit. A really interesting book that I found very enjoyable.