Murder Most Unladylike

Murder Most Unladylike is a children's mystery novel by British-American author Robin Stevens, published in 2014. It follows two schoolgirls in 1930s England solving their first murder mystery and is the first book in the ‘Murder Most Unladylike’ series.

Murder Most Unladylike
UK edition
AuthorRobin Stevens
Cover artistNina Tara[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreMystery fiction, Children's fiction
PublisherPuffin Books
Publication date
5 June 2014
Pages352

The story is written in the style of a casebook and follows two fictional boarding schoolgirl detectives, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, as they try to find the murderer of their science teacher. The book has been nominated for several awards, including the Carnegie Medal. A sequel, Arsenic For Tea, was published seven months after Murder Most Unladylike. In the US, the book was published under the name Murder is Bad Manners.[2]

The series

Since the first Murder Most Unladylike book, there have been eight books within the series and four mini books. The main books are as follows:

•Murder Most Unladylike (2014)

•Arsenic For Tea (2015)

•First Class Murder (2015)

•Jolly Foul Play (2016)

•Mistletoe and Murder (2016)

•A Spoonful of Murder (2018)

•Death in the Spotlight (2018)

•Top Marks for Murder (2019)

•Death Sets Sail (2020)

Plot

Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells are students in Deepdean School for Girls. They are the founding members of their school's Detective Society, although the only ones in it. One day, Hazel stumbles upon the corpse of their Science teacher Miss Bell in the gymnasium, but when Hazel returns with Daisy and one of the prefects, the body is gone. Thus no one believes Hazel actually saw Miss Bell’s dead body and believe that she was telling fibs.

Then, the next day at Prayers, the other students also notice the absence of their Science mistress, but they are satisfied when the headteacher informed that she has received a resignation letter from Miss Bell. Daisy and Hazel, however, are not. Together, they work tirelessly to piece together the clues and solve the mystery.

In the end, they come across an old notebook, which turns out to be the diary of Verity Abraham, the girl who was rumoured to have committed suicide by jumping off the Gym some few years ago. The diary serves as evidence that Miss Griffin, the headmistress has spoken to her a few weeks ago and informed her that she was Verity’s true mother, and that Mr and Mrs Abraham had adopted her. Miss Griffin had become an unmarried mother, which at the time was not considered normal and would have affected her chances of becoming headmistress. Verity forbids this fact, but Miss Griffin then provides her with evidence of her birth and the adoption, too. Then, she asks Verity to join her as her daughter, but Verity denies and says Mr. and Mrs. Abraham are her parents. Finally, there is a note proving who the murderer is at the end, and why they killed Miss Bell.

As there are police at the scene, they hand the diary over, the policeman understands everything, and holds a denouement (the final part of the book, unveiling the murderer) and they finally arrest the murderer.

Reception

In its review, The Oxford Times praised Stevens for her "sense of place ... attention to detail, in-depth characters, authentic documents of events and, most importantly, absorbing plot".[3] The website Crime Review called Murder Most Unladylike "an assured and capable debut",.[4] Children's author Jo Cotterill called it "extremely well plotted", but criticized the pacing of the story.[5] The education website Teachwire said the book is "something that is simultaneously recognisable and totally original".[6]

It also won a 2015 Waterstones Children's Book Prize in the 5-12 Fiction category.[7]

References
  1. "Murder Most Unladylike|The Bookseller". www.robinstevens.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
  2. Stevens, Robin. "Murder is Bad Manners – meet my US cover!". Robin Stevens Official Website. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  3. Lee, Jan. "Review: Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens". The Oxford Times. The Oxford Times. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  4. Wilson, Linda. "Murder Most Unladylike Review". Crime Review. Crime Review. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  5. Cotterill, Jo. "Murder Most Unladylike - review". Jo Cotterill Official Website. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. "Murder Most Unladylike". Teachwire. Teachwire. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  7. McAloon, Jonathan (26 March 2015). "Picture book wins 2015 Waterstones Children's Book Prize". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
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