If you’re a reader in the USA or Canada, there’s not long to wait until the fourth book in the Wells & Wong Mysteries series is released where you live!

Jolly Foul Play has kept its title for its American edition, which I’m very pleased about. It’s publishing on April 17th from Simon and Schuster, and you can pre-order it from Amazon.com. It’s got another gorgeous cover from Elizabeth Baddeley – I love the way she illustrates Daisy and Hazel!

It’s also been given a wonderful review by the School Library Journal. Their reviewer Katherine Barr says:

For the first time since the “Wells & Wong” series debut, sleuths Daisy and Hazel are back at Deepdean School with friends Beanie, Kitty, and Lavinia in 1935: their ninth-grade year. During the Guy Fawkes Day bonfire at school, the Detective Society encounters their newest case: Head Girl Elizabeth has been killed, and the only possible suspects are her five closest friends… As in prior installments in the series, Steven’s storytelling and suspense-building are top-notch… The fast-changing nature of friendship between girls is a constant theme throughout; the gossipy secrets Elizabeth uses to blackmail other students and Daisy’s insecurity when Hazel shows interest in a boy are prime examples. This realistic depiction of student life may make the 1935 setting a little more relatable for readers, while also providing appeal to an older audience than previous books.

VERDICT An appropriately complex depiction of adolescent friendship gives this well-crafted mystery appeal beyond its genre alone.–Katherine Barr, Cameron Village Regional Library, Raleigh, NC

I’m really delighted – what a great review!