First Class Murder

Good book can recommend if you are into mystery books

Op book

In Robin Stevens' third Murder Most Unladylike Mystery 'First Class Murder', we meet up again with schoolgirl detectives Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells who recently formed their own secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls where they both board. This story is not, like the first in the series, actually set at the school but on the famous Orient Express, where the two girls are very excited to be spending their holiday accompanied by Mr Wong, Hazel's rich, businessman father. Travelling in their carriage is a group of very diverse characters including: Il Mysterioso, a magician; Mr Strange, a writer of blood-thirsty crime novels; Madame Melinda, a spirit medium; Countess Demidovsky, an eccentric Russian noblewoman travelling with her grandson, Alexander; Mr and Mrs Daunt, a rather showy nouveau riche couple; Sarah Sweet, Mrs Daunt's rather insolent maid; the kind and friendly Hetty, who is employed to look after Daisy and Hazel; and Mrs Vitellius, a female detective whom Daisy and Hazel have met before and who is travelling under a pseudonym. But why is Mrs Vitellius on the train and which passenger is she on the trail of? And when one of the party is brutally murdered in compartment that is locked from the inside and a valuable jewel goes missing, which of the passengers is responsible for the blood-thirsty crime? And is the perpetrator the same person that Mrs Vitellius is shadowing, or is it someone else entirely? Daisy and Hazel, naturally, have their own theories about the murderer and aided by Alexander, who wants to be a Pinkerton detective when he leaves school, they make plans to track him or her down - despite being forbidden to get involved by Hazel's father. But do the girls and Alexander do as they have been told? Of course not...Set in the 1930s, this is another exciting and enjoyable murder mystery story for our engaging amateur sleuths and one in which the girls (who complement each other well with Daisy being the more daring and intuitive of the duo and Hazel being the more cautious and practical) have to learn to work with Alexander, who has his own ideas about the identity of the murderer. Of course this story has its fair share of red herrings - but there are clues and, being much older than the intended target audience for this novel, I did work out who the murderer was and why it was committed; however, even if the reader does guess the identity of the murderer before the end of the story (and I'll just add here that the young person I bought this for didn't work it out) this is still a very entertaining and enjoyable read. My niece, for whom this book was bought, loved it and has asked for more and, therefore, I shall be buying (and reading) the rest in the series. The next one is: 'Jolly Foul Play' and we're keen to read that soon so that we can begin the fifth story 'Mistletoe and Murder' before Christmas.5 Stars.

Se lo leyeron en 2 días. Les gustó mucho.

Originally posted at: http://solittletimeforbooks.blogspot.co.ukHazel and Daisy are stepping aboard the Orient Express for a well-deserved holiday from being detectives with Mr Wong. Until there’s a mysterious murder, that is.First of all: I want to go on the Orient Express, always have done, and now I want to even more (weirdly). Just had to get that out of the way.The sudden death of Mrs Georgiana Daunt sends those in the Calais to Istanbul carriage into a tail spin. There’s a murderer among them and even though it’s the most difficult case Hazel and Daisy have faced yet, they’re determined to be the first to crack the case. As well as being forbidden to detect by Mr Wong and being closely watched by a surprising familiar face on the train, they also have to contend with a locked-room murder, lots of big personalities for suspects and confusing evidence.But solve it they did. It was really cool to see Hazel prove to her dad that she knows what she’s doing and that she’s not just a follower of Daisy as she often gets accused of throughout the novel. We also got to learn a little more about Mr Wong (there was one snippet of blasé information that Hazel shared which threw me for a loop – lots of Googling ensued) and it hinted at how Hazel would have been brought up before coming to Deepdean. And sadly, her and her dad were still faced with racism, even in the elite carriages of the Orient Express – a holiday that requires wealth and luxury. It continues to make me sad, but I’m glad it's there. I hope that maybe some kids reading this who might have been brought up with racist attitudes in their households will see how disgusting it is when reading through hazel’s eyes. We can only hope!Once again I failed to solve the murder – I’ll never make it as a member of the Detective Society… - and thoroughly enjoyed it. First Class Murder is a charming, funny and addictive instalment in the Wells and Wong Mysteries and I’m ready for the next one, please and thank you.

Great read