Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens, reviewed by Catherine

Murder Most Unladylike is about schoolgirl detectives, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, who solve a murder at their boarding school, Deepdean, which is in the English countryside. After that, suspicious deaths seem to follow them around! There are nine books in the MMU series, plus three mini mysteries as well. I would strongly recommend starting with the first book, because if you read them out of order then things might not make much sense and there might be some spoilers of the previous crimes.

The books are set in the 1930s, and most are written in Hazel’s perspective. Daisy is a really funny, impatient person whereas Hazel is more quiet and thoughtful. Their detective agency is called the Wells & Wong detective society. Daisy usually leads everything they do and can’t stand being overlooked by grown-ups. A Spoonful of Murder is set in Hong Kong, where Hazel is from and being there makes Hazel much more confident than she usually is, and Daisy is shyer. It’s really interesting watching how the girls’ friendship changes over the course of the series and how Hazel gets bolder.

Robin Stevens is a very good writer because her stories are so awesome that you feel like you are right there in the book. Some of her adventures are created on the Orient Express, in Hong Kong, and even on a cruise along the River Nile in Egypt. I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that these locations are the same as famous crime writer Agatha Christie’s novels like Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express.

My favourite is Death in the Spotlight which is set in London at a theatre where Daisy and Hazel are helping out. It has such a marvellous plot that you have no idea where the story will take you.

Robin Stevens did an interesting zoom author event for Brighton Festival and she said there will be a new series about Hazel’s younger sister, May, and it sounds like it will be amazing.

Start your Murder Most Unladylike adventure with book 1:

The first marvellous murder mystery in the bestselling Murder Most Unladylike series!

At Deepdean School for Girls, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have set up their own detective agency. But they are struggling to find any real crimes to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia’s missing tie. Which they don’t.)

Then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. To add to the mystery, when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove one happened in the first place. 

Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?