Hello!
Today I am writing a book review about ' Mistletoe and Murder' by Robin Stevens. This book was first published in 2016 and since then has become really popular. It may have not been that recently released, but this book is still a great read for children and an incredibly gripping novel that urges the reader to continue reading. I especially enjoyed this book because as the genre of the story is a murder mystery it is exciting to try and guess who is the murderer. Throughout the book the reader is kept in suspense about who the murderer is, and I changed my mind in every single chapter after discovering new clues that played a key part in discovering the murderer's identity.
Mistletoe and Murder is one of the most recent books published in the series of 'A murder most unladylike mystery.' I have read every single one of the books including the 'Cream buns and crime' book which I was introduced to recently by my sister. My favourite has to be 'Mistletoe and Murder' as it is so intriguing and interesting to read. This series has been my favourite of the year and I would recommend it to anyone!
The introduction sets the scene with Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells spending the Christmas holiday's in Cambridge where Daisy's brother, Bertie, goes to University. I thought the beginning was so interesting as Daisy and Hazel seem older and more mature. Additionally, Hazel proves to the reader that she has become older as she is now interested in boys', whereas Daisy surprisingly is not, despite the fact that most of the boys' mentioned in the novel such as Alexander like her.
Daisy and Hazel team up with Alexander and his friend to try and solve another murder, this time in Cambridge in Maudlin College. I love how all the characters in each of these novels all seem to have a motive and any of them could have killed the unfortunate victim. I especially enjoy how the book is exciting and thrilling with Daisy and Hazel being determined to catch the murderer in time for Christmas. I love the clues that are thrown casually into the novel, so by missing one little detail it can be hard to decide who the murderer is. I like how the book kept me guessing the whole way through. I enjoyed it so much!
I also loved how the book is set in the 1930's which makes it really interesting to read and learn about how people lived, especially wealthy families in that era. It was also really fascinating to learn so much about how women were allowed to study in Universities at the time, but not allowed to graduate. Also, that it was still rare to meet scholarly women and Professors, such as Daisy's Great Aunt. As well as sexism, racism and inequality is also spoken of casually within the book which really made me understand what life was like for women and other people facing injustice in the 20th Century.
This book was superb and exceptional, I enjoyed it so much and would recommend it to anyone from 9-14 years old. I liked the whole plot and the setting at Daisy's brother's college in Cambridge, amid his friends and the mysterious Amanda Price. The book is 400 pages long and was published on the 20th of October 2016.
Haven't read it yet? You should definitely! I am so excited for the release of Robin Steven's next book 'A spoonful of murder' which will be released in February this year! And I cannot wait to write a review on it as soon as I have read it!
Thank you for reading this!
Beth Lucy