How to Find a Missing Girl by Victoria Wlosok

Pages: 320

Publisher: Hodder's Children's Books 

Released: 21st of September 2023 

A year ago, beloved cheerleader Stella Blackthorn vanished without a trace. Devastated, her younger sister, Iris, launched her own investigation, but all she managed to do was scare off the police's only lead and earn a stern once she turns eighteen, more meddling means prison-level consequences.

Then, a year later, the unthinkable happens. Iris's ex-girlfriend, Heather, goes missing, too-just after dropping the polarizing last episode of her true crime podcast all about Iris's sister. This time, nothing will stop Iris and her amateur sleuthing agency from solving these disappearances.

But with a suspicious detective watching her every move, an enemy-turned-friend-turned-maybe-more to contend with, and only thirty days until she turns eighteen, it's a race against the clock for Iris to solve the most dangerous case of her life.

What I Have to Say 

I really enjoyed this. Iris had a good voice and there was a good cast of characters to back her up. My favourite was her former best friend who just had such a distinct personality as the plucky journalist who just wanted to be friends with Iris again. 

The Sapphic edge on this was naturally what I was most interested in. Having all the detective agency characters be Sapphic in some way (the main character is pan, one is a lesbian and the other I think is a non-binary lesbian though I might be wrong about her orientation) was a good idea. It really gave this an edge up on the other mystery books I've read. 

Though with teen detectives, you often have to suspend reality on what they would actually get away with and what they wouldn't, I thought the teen angle was done well here. Iris doesn't have years of experience to fall back on. She's just a kid, trying to do what she can. I really liked that authenticity in our plucky young heroine. 

If you like detective stories and sapphic characters, give this one a try! 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Hodder for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

My thanks go to Hot Key Books and Piccadilly Press for providing me with this copy. 

Pages: 326

Publisher: Piccadilly Press

Released: 1st of January 2015 (first published 2014)

An outrageous plot of villainy starring seven brilliant young girls.

At Prickwillow Place, Disgraceful Mary Jane, Smooth Kitty and their fellow students are keeping a deadly secret.

When the headmistress of St Etheldreda's School for Young Ladies drops dead at Sunday dinner, her seven pupils agree on a clever scheme: to bury their teacher in the vegetable garden, dress up Stout Alice in her place, and educate themselves. This is tricky enough in a small Victorian community, but when the girls deduce that their teacher was poisoned - (it was the veal!) - they realise there is also a murderer on the prowl . . . 

What I Have To Say

At first, this book was a little hard to read. There were seven main characters all with different sobriquet that are all doing different things. Surprisingly though, after a few chapters I got enthralled in their worlds, in their different characteristics and ways of speaking and looking at things. Now that I have finished, I'm rather sad to not be reading about them anymore. 

The plot is not meant to be taken seriously. It's farcical humour fits well with the variety of characters, both the students of St Etheldreda's and the townspeople of Ely. Though it is the kind of plot where it is obviously going to end with the girls being discovered, there were so many twists and turns that by the end of it, I had no clue how they would be discovered or who the murderer was. 

I really am going to miss these character. I really, really hope that the author will write more about them. I could see Pocked Louise leading the other girls into investigating other mysteries in Ely. Perhaps they could end up with some sort of Enid Blyton style investigative team? I just hope that there will be more books. 

Arsenic For Tea by Robin Stevens

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 339

Publisher: Corgi Childrens

Released: 29th of January 2015

Other Books In The Series: Murder Most Unladylike

Schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Daisy's home, Fallingford, for the holidays. Daisy's glamorous mother is throwing a tea party for Daisy's birthday, and the whole family is invited, from eccentric Aunt Saskia to dashing Uncle Felix. But it soon becomes clear that this party isn't really about Daisy at all. Naturally, Daisy is furious.

Then one of their party falls seriously, mysteriously ill - and everything points to poison.

With wild storms preventing anyone from leaving, or the police from arriving, Fallingford suddenly feels like a very dangerous place to be. Not a single person present is what they seem - and everyone has a secret or two. And when someone very close to Daisy looks suspicious, the Detective Society must do everything they can to reveal the truth . . . no matter the consequences.

What I Have To Say

I often find that the second book in the series is less good than the first, but Arsenic for Tea was just as good as Murder Most Unladylike. It instantly threw me back into Hazel and Daisy's world and reminded me everything I loved about the first book. The only thing that I missed was the school. I'm looking forward to them going back in the next book. 

That said, I really loved exploring Daisy's family. Her parents and aunts were delightfully quirky and I really want to learn more about her uncle. The descriptions of the house and the way things like the maze and the tree were utilised were all really well done. I only wish that they could have used the walled garden. 

I loved this book just as much as the first. They are both a delight to read, filled with suspense, secrets, twists and tea parties. You'd do well to pick a Wells and Wong book as your next read. 

Violet and the Pearl of the Orient by Harriet Whitehorn

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

My thanks go to Simon and Schuster for providing me with this copy.

Pages: 208
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Released: 28th of April 2014

When a new family move in next door, Violet is sure there's something strange about them. Then her eccentric, but lovely neighbour, Dee Dee Derota, has a precious jewel stolen. Could the new family be to blame? Violet is on the case to uncover the truth…

What I Have to Say

I think middle grade girl detective is my new favourite genre. I love Violet almost as much as I loved Daisy from Murder Most Unladylike. They both have the same need to stick their nose into everything,  the same determination and the same inability to quit no matter how much trouble they get into. 

Obviously this book is a lot younger than the stuff I normally read as even when I read middle grade I tend to read the older books that take me more than a couple of hours. But for the reasons above, when I was offered this book, I couldn't say no. 

I really really enjoyed reading it. It took me back to my childhood when a lot of the stuff I read was let's just say not on the serious side of things (for comedies sake of course). I loved the characters in their absurdity and the story itself. And the illustrations by Becka Moor just added so much to it and made it beautiful.