“The book that has given me most pleasure is a first novel by Robin Stevens, Murder Most Unladylike (Corgi, published next month), which combines the pleasures of Enid Blyton’s boarding school books with her secret society ones. Best friends Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong find themselves at the heart of a murder investigation when Hazel discovers the body of a teacher in the school gym.
Plotting is what sets this book apart; this is about who was where at the time of the murder, and it’s about finding the chink in the alibi. Stevens’s duo – Daisy, who hides her sharpness under a chummy exterior, and Hazel, recently arrived from Hong Kong and out of place in an English boarding school – are interesting enough to hold up a second volume.”
