Mistletoe and Murder (A Wells & Wong Mystery)

Best one so far! I've read the entire series together with my 9-year-old daughter, each one reading aloud until our voices fail us. While she was hooked on the series already after the first book, which is enough to make me forever grateful to Robin Stevens, this is the one that had the most appeal to me as a more experienced reader and as a parent: I love how this book brings to the surface the tensions related to race and gender that the are the undercurrent of the entire series. It is set in 1930s Cambridge, which is very literally male territory, and the female detectives have to join forces with boys because women are not allowed access to the crime scene (a boys only college). While the entire series is full of anthropologial observation of the English - Hazel is the outsider looking in on the strange habits of these people - this is the first instalment in which Hazel is not the only non-white character. Bonds and allegiances build along lines of ethnic origin and gender, but never trump the search for justice, which remains a staple of all such murder mysteries. While the 'whodunnit part' is what maintains the young reader's interest throughout, there is so much more to these books...

My ten-year-old doesn't like to read, but she is really enjoying this book.

Said it was her favorite so far!

Kid is Happy, so am I

The book Is Great!!! I have read all of it yet. Just finished the first one. I love mysteries!

This is the fifth instalment in Robin Stevens's "Wells and Wong" mystery series, and might just be her best one yet. All of the stories have been a great mix of loveable characters, twisty mysteries, vivid settings and interesting insight into human nature, and this time around our incorrigible detectives (Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, both fourteen and students at Deepdean School for Girls) are visiting Daisy's brother in Cambridge over the Christmas holidays.Though Daisy feels right at home among the grand universities and male students, Hazel is a little more hesitant. More than ever she's conscious of her identity as a Chinese girl in a foreign land, and there are those among her new circle of acquaintances at Maudlin College who are eager to remind her of that. Adding to her anxiety is her reunion with Alexander Arcady, the young man who she and Daisy befriended in "First Class Murder" on board the Orient Express, and her confusing tumult of feelings whenever she's around him.As it happens, she and Daisy are also introduced to Alex's friend George Mukherjee – a young Indian student who astonishes Hazel with his confidence and intrigues Daisy with his intellect. Between the four of them, there are *two* amateur investigative clubs in Cambridge: the Detective Society and the Junior Pinkertons, each hoping to test their mettle against the other.All they need is a mystery to solve, and of course, the university soon obliges. Two days before Christmas, one of Daisy's brother's friends is found dead – presumably the victim of a prank gone wrong, though Hazel, Daisy, Alex and George believe otherwise. The competition is on to see who'll find the murderer, though the girls are stymied by the strict gender rules that govern the universities. They have fewer resources and are barred from several important locations, which means that all their wits and courage will be needed to crack the case first.I loved everything about "Mistletoe and Murder". Hazel continues to grow as a person, better able to negotiate her relationship with the domineering Daisy while feeling hopelessly unable to handle her crush on Alex. Her first-person narrative is always a delight, and her voice is as strong and clear as ever. Stevens also provides fascinating commentary on the race and gender inequalities of the 1930s, and the endless array of prejudices women and non-white men had to face. And it's not done in a preachy or self-pitying way: it's all an intrinsic part of the characterization.The mystery itself is not the strongest this time around, with a few clues that are withheld in order to make it next to impossible for the reader to figure out the culprit themselves (it reminded me a little of Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles") but the character dynamics and setting (a snowy Cambridge!) more than make up for it.I've been enjoying the heck out of this series, and they seem to get better with every book.

What a wonderful mystery! This is the first book that I've read from the series, and although there are references to the occurrences in the earlier books, it was absolutely no problem to start with this one. While it is set during Christmas, it is by no means a book which needs to be read only during the holidays.Daisy and Hazel are excited to spend Christmas break in Cambridge. While Cambridge itself is gorgeous, the woman's college (since the colleges were still separated at this time) is lacking in financial luster. Still, Daisy and Hazel are free to roam as they want, since the person looking after them is constantly studying and writing essays. While visiting Daisy's brother, they learn of strange accidents haunting especially one of a set of twins who is about to inherit the entire family estate. The other twin will receive nothing. The two girls decide to solve the case behind these accidents but are soon met by their friends and competing detectives who want to do the same. The bet is on—who can solve the case before Christmas. But before either side can collect all of the clues, the situation takes a turn for the worse and soon becomes a murder mystery.Set back to an earlier time in Britain, this tale has a lovely flair the entire way through. Daisy and Hazel are around fifteen years old and completely fit their parts. They are a lovely duo, who understand each other very well, have different personalities, and support each other no matter what. The fact that Hazel is Chinese puts an interesting twist into the story in so far that this was something very exotic back then. And it fits her character so nicely!There's a wonderful mixture of suspense, humor and terrific dialogue. Every thought and word sits, while adding a little zest of personality. Something is always happening, and it's impossible to predict where the story will go next. The clues unfold little by little. The girls love to recap periodically with 'written' notes, which helps keep the reader up to point.There is some violence...after all it is a murder mystery...but it stays within taste. The girls' reactions are logical and never over the top. But they are good detectives. There is romance too, but this skirts along the side as a simple dusting without real grit.This is a wonderful read for younger (and even much older) young adult mystery fans. Especially girls will enjoy diving into this one and will probably be hooked on the entire series right away.I received a complimentary copy and was so caught up in this mystery that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts.

Set in Cambridge at Christmas time, this book sets a cracking pace. It's probably my second-favourite in the series (after the first book). The setting is superb - I loved that Daisy and Hazel got out of Deepdean to solve a mystery at the atmospheric Cambridge. You could feel the snow, as well as the fire through Stevens's wonderful descriptions. The book also cleverly tackles issues of race, class and gender inequality, without hitting the reader over the head with these things.Cosy crime!

I must admit that I have enjoyed this series of books immensely, and as Christmas will soon be upon us, I felt it was time to read this particular book again. Daisy and Hazel are going to spend Christmas 1935 in Cambridge. Daisy has an aunt at the ladies’ college so accommodation is arranged, and her brother is staying over the festive period at one of the colleges, so they will be able to see each other.If this is the first book in the series you are starting with then please be assured that it is a standalone novel, although of course there are references at times to past cases and events. Those who are already familiar with the series, will be fully aware that death seems to follow our two intrepid schoolgirls around. Once again then we have a tale that is very much in the vein of the Golden Age with murder at the heart of the mystery. I like the fact that near the beginning we see that the girls are reading Dorothy L Sayers’ Gaudy Night, which although that book does not have a murder in it, does have malicious pranks and such like, and we certainly see that there are some here, all apparently played on Donald, an eldest twin, who on Christmas Day, which is also his birthday, will inherit a vast fortune, much to the chagrin of his slightly younger twin brother.What then seems to be a series of rather nasty practical jokes then turns into murder, but with a prime suspect in sight, things soon go awry, and our two girls find themselves competing with, and then teaming up with another detection group amongst some of the male students at Cambridge. This is relatively fast paced, has action and daring exploits along with the mystery, and so there is more than enough to keep younger minds entertained, and of course to keep us older readers hooked. With a whiff of romance, there is also racism brought up here, as Hazel is not the only Chinese person here, and there are also Indians at the college where the incidents occur. There is also mention of gender inequality.After the story the author does explain what alterations have been made, because some college names have been altered, and so on. In all though this is as good, if not better than some of the stories that were produced in this country during the Golden Age, and here has the extra appeal that will come to children as they read this, of younger detective heroes.

It is 1935 and for the fifth Murder Most Unladylike story 'Mistletoe and Murder' we find Hazel and Daisy in Cambridge, where they are staying over the Christmas hols in St Lucy's College (a fictional establishment) with Daisy's Great Aunt Eustacia Mountfitchet, who is a mathematics don at the college. The two girls are, in theory, supposed to be under the charge of Amanda, one of the students at St Lucy’s, a very clever young woman who is reading history at the college, but is far too busy to spend time trailing around with the girls, so Daisy and Hazel are left very much to their own devices. Also in Cambridge at Maudlin College (again obviously a fictional establishment, but based on Magdalen College) are Daisy's brother, Bertie, and Bertie's friends, twin brothers Donald and Charles (Chummy) Melling; at St John's College is Bertie's very close friend, Harold Mukherjee, whose brother, George, and his friend Alexander (members of the Junior Pinkerton Detective Agency, with whom Hazel and Daisy are already acquainted) are staying with Harold in order to decide whether they want to apply for places at Cambridge next year.When some rather strange accidents begin happening to Donald Melling - who, on Christmas Day, comes into a very large inheritance - Hazel and Daisy start to suspect that Donald's younger (by five minutes) brother, the irrepressible Chummy, who is always playing pranks on his brother, is not just trying to irritate Donald but possibly trying to kill him. And soon Chummy's nasty pranks are also noted by George and Alexander - who, as Junior Pinkertons, are eager to discover the motive behind Chummy's behaviour. Daisy, determined to solve the mystery before George and Alexander, is keen to take part in a competition between the Junior Pinkerton Detectives and the Secret Detective Society to see who will be first to prove whether or not Chummy is responsible for all of the accidents and to see if they can prevent anything more sinister happening. However, when a lifeless body is found at the foot of staircase nine, and then another death soon occurs, Hazel and Daisy and George and Alexander decide to pool their knowledge and investigate together - but with the list of suspects diminishing before their eyes and Daisy's brother, Bertie, still on the list, the four amateur sleuths have a difficult time ahead of them and one that puts at least one of them in mortal danger...A festive offering from Robin Stevens and one in which we see Hazel and Daisy behaving in a slightly more grown-up manner than we have previously, and where Hazel has to cope with jealousy when Alexander (with whom Hazel thought she had a special relationship) starts to moon over the prettier and more confident Daisy. Ms Stevens also includes more characters of colour in this particular story (the Chinese student Alfred Cheng and the two young men of Indian heritage, Harold and George Mukherjee) and she also shows Hazel (and George) acknowledging that to accuse someone with a ‘different’ background and culture to the other upper-middle class/upper class young men at Cambridge, could cause much more in the way of repercussions and they had, therefore, to be very careful about not jumping to conclusions. So, all in all, an interesting and enjoyable murder mystery story and although I, who am much older than the target age for this novel, guessed early on in the story the identity of the murderer, my young niece (for whom this book was bought) didn’t and she was intrigued from beginning to end. We’ve now read five ‘Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries’ and my niece is very keen to continue, so as there are another four full-length books in the series along with some short stories, we’re going to be in Hazel's and Daisy’s company for a while yet, and that’s fine by me.4 Stars.

Obviously Robin Stevens can't write these books quick enough.My daughter (11) absolutely loves these books. So much so that she is permanently making notes and scribbles for mystery and murder books similar to these.These books certainly jog the imagination of the younger readers and I've pretty much lost all conversation with my daughter when a new one of these books comes out.

WRITTEN BY MY 10 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER:Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have been invited to stay at St. Lucy's college, Cambridge. The young detectives, who are working with another detective society, discover a few odd bits of behaviour from the Melling twins, and think that one of them may be murdered!And yes, one of them is murdered, but not the right twin! Can they discover who the murderer is before Christmas Day?I would reccomend this book to readers between 8-13 years old, and if you enjoy Malory Towers, Famous Five or Mystery books, BUY THIS NOW!