Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens
The Hook:
Hazel lives in the shadow of her best friend, Daisy—a girl so flawless, outspoken, and privileged you might even say she is a classic mean girl. Hazel still likes her though and the two are inseparable.
Daisy has a knack for getting others to bend to her ways and that helps when the two decide to open their own secret detective agency at their all-girls school in England. The only problem? They have nothing to investigate.
But that all changes when Hazel discovers the dead body of their science teacher, Miss Bell. However, when she runs to get Daisy, the body has disappeared. Who killed Miss Bell? And who moved the body and where? The girls are way in over their heads, but Daisy refuses to admit it.
There are plenty of suspects in this who-done-it but can the two solve the mystery? It may be up to practical, realistic Hazel to solve this case and even save their lives. Read Murder is Bad Manners by Robin Stevens to find out.
This book is in our library. It is also in Sora and Axis 360 as an ebook. It is 9 AR points.
My Thoughts (Careful! There Could Be Spoilers):
The setting for this book is in England at an all-girls boarding school in the 1930’s. This makes it a little hard for our kids to relate to since they’ve never experienced England or a boarding school. Plus, it’s a different time period. Still, it’s great fun once you get past the differences and into the story.
We’ve all probably had a bossy friend (or been the bossy friend) who gets us into all kinds of trouble and Daisy is just that. But it’s Hazel who finds the body and Daisy who believes her. Then we are off to the races with investigating all of the teachers and staff at the school. Secrets are found (even a same-sex relationship between teachers) and clues are found as the two dash around the campus.
Daisy believes everyone will answer her questions and do her bidding because well…they always have. But it’s up to pragmatic Hazel to map out the case and follow true leads. Even though people cheer for Daisy and view her as the real Sherlock, it’s Hazel who truly solves the case. Hazel doesn’t mind being Watson. She didn’t want the extra attention anyway. These two make a good team.
Soon another murder takes place and the mystery is solved. But that’s not the end of these 2 investigations. In fact, this book is the first of 9 in the series.
The book does get a little confusing because there are so many different teachers to investigate. Thank goodness, there is a cast-list though to refer to, as well as a map of the campus. It is rather lengthy—336 pages. In my opinion the author could have shortened the list of characters and it would have kept the plot moving a little better.
It’s a good who-done-it! I give it 4.0 stars.
Recommendation:
If your child likes mysteries, this is a good series to get started on. This book is for strong readers that like a good mystery. 5th-8th grade.
