Synopsis (from Goodreads)
Pages: 324
Publisher: Corgi
Released: 5th of June 2014
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?
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?
What I Have To Say
This is my latest book crush. One of those books where you fall in love with the title, then the cover and then finally you get the book and everything is just perfect.
The characters are what makes this book special. Daisy is very easy to imagine. She's that pushy girl. The one who has to get her nose into everything. And Hazel is the saner, less pushy Watson. Which is another thing that worked really well. The Watson and Holmes references. They fitted very well with the characters and provided an excellent reason for Hazel's narrative. I like that idea of the "sidekick" character writing the documentation down. It's a real shame that more authors don't use it. Although, Hazel is far from a sidekick.
The boarding school setting was fantastic as well. There's something wonderful about those old all girls schools that has some kind of magic to them them that I can't quite book my finger on. But ever since I was young and reading the Worst Witch I've loved stories of that kind.
While this is defined as a "middle grade" book by goodreads, I really think that this is a prime example of how books cannot be categorised by age. Reading as an adult, I looked at Daisy and Hazel as wonderful young girls and didn't feel that I needed to relate to them at all to enjoy their adventures.
I'm really looking forward to the next book. I need more Daisy and Hazel in my life.
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