MMU in the news!

June 22, 2014

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That title is slightly misleading. Murder Most Unladylike has not been in the actual news. But it has had some absolutely wonderful mentions online and in print in the past week.

First, Murder Most Unladylike was featured in this week’s Saturday Times as its children’s book of the week.

The Times review 21.6.2014

The reviewer didn’t even guess whodunit (which is incredibly pleasing to me. I love how many people I’m foxing).

And reader Amy (one of the first people to actually read the book, way back when it was nothing more than a proof copy) has had her review published in Scotland’s Daily Record. Amy is a brilliant and very discerning young reviewer, and her opinion means a lot to me.

Amy's Record Review 14.6.2014

For extra fun, here’s Amy’s Golden Retriever Shimmer beautifully modelling the review as it appeared in the paper.

I feel so lucky to have had two such wonderful mentions in newspapers – it’s a sad fact that very few children’s books are given space in print media, so this is an amazing thing to happen.

Murder Most Unladylike has also been given some fantastic blogger reviews this week.

Liz Filleul reviews it on her blog storyspinnerliz.wordpress.com, saying:

This is an absolutely gorgeous book, from the cover, through the map of Deepdean School and cast of characters, to the mystery itself. It’s a genuine detective story, crammed with clues, red herrings and motives . . . The denouement is particularly gripping and I stayed up late to finish it, feeling at the end like I’d been playing a really enjoyable game of Cluedo.

And Cicely Wynne reviews it on ciclovesbooks.blogspot.com, with possibly my favourite piece of praise ever:

I just adored it, and I think it is impossible not to. If you don’t adore this, then you are just weird.

A huge thank you to everyone who’s take time to talk about Murder Most Unladylike – I’m so grateful for your words!

And now, I leave you with a picture that I particularly love, my friend Sarah reading Murder Most Unladylike in Cusco, Peru. Daisy and Hazel are travelling the world!

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More posts to explore

There’s a new exhibition coming to Oxford’s Story Museum this summer, and it’s all about young detectives! Created by young curators using a storyline by Sharna Jackson, it’ll feature plenty of your favourite detectives – including Daisy and Hazel!
I am doing two festival events this spring: one in Dublin and one in London. They are: International Literature Festival Dublin, 16th May, 12pm – a talk followed by a signing London Children’s Book Festival, 28th June, 3:30pm – a talk followed by a signing
I’m partnering up with the National Archives for their first ever school event, a free online event on Wednesday March 25th at 1:30pm.
I’m delighted to announce that I have something for schools who’d like a visit from me – I’ll be appearing in a virtual schools event on the 20th March at 1:30pm in partnership with my publisher Puffin.
I’m delighted to say that I’ll be visiting Lincoln in February to talk about my books! I’ll be at the Engine Shed on Saturday 14th February at 3pm – tickets are on sale NOW and include a book with the price of the ticket.
If you missed out on my pre-order campaign with Daunt Books … it’s back for a limited time only! From today until the 3rd of December, you can order a signed and personalised copy of A Stocking Full of Spies from the Daunt Books website.