Toppsta - Childrens Books – Reviews

Murder Most Unladylike is a thrilling murder mystery series, written by Robin Stevens and starring schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong.

When thirteen-year-old classmates Daisy and Hazel set up a secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls they are decidedly short of mysteries to solve. Bored of cases like the search for Lavinia’s missing tie, the girls are shocked but thrilled when Hazel discovers her first real crime – Science Mistress Miss Bell, dead in the gym. When the body goes missing the girls have to prove that the murder really happened and solve the crime before the police.

Each book provides a fresh mystery for the friends to crack, full of twists, turns and red herrings. The girls solve crimes everywhere from the classroom to the theatre, becoming firm friends and overcoming the challenges of school life together, despite their different backgrounds.

Set in the 1930s in a quintessentially English boarding school, the series has been described as “Agatha Christie meets Enid Blyton”. We love the period details: Daisy and Hazel even get a trip on the Orient Express, just like Hercule Poirot, in book 3 First Class Murder. Author Robin Stevens is a huge murder mystery fan and says that she always wanted to be Agatha Christie when she grew up. Her passion for whodunnits shines through in this award-winning young fiction series. The stories are charming and funny but also dramatic, gripping and hair-raising in parts - certainly not for the faint-hearted but readers will love solving the mysteries themselves.

The books are ideal for ages 9 and over; you can read them in any order but we recommend starting with book one to get to know all the characters. If you love Cluedo, Malory Towers or Agatha Christie, give these books a try – they are amongst the best murder mystery books and Toppsta readers love them. Check out their rave reviews below and get stuck in. 

All the Murder Most Unladylike Mystery books in order:

Book 1: Murder Most Unladylike (2014)
Book 2: Arsenic for Tea (2015)
Book 3: First Class Murder (2016)
Book 4: Jolly Foul Play (2016)
Book 5: Mistletoe and Murder (2016)
Book 6: A Spoonful of Murder (2018)
Book 7: Death in the Spotlight (2018)
Book 8: Top Marks for Murder (2019)
Book 9: Death Sets Sail (August 2020)

PLUS: 
The Case of the Drowned Pearl: A Murder Most Unladylike Mini-Mystery (World Book Day Title 2020)
Once Upon a Crime: A Murder most Unladylike Collection (A brand new short story collection Aug 2021)