Cream Buns and Crime: Tips, Tricks, and Tales from the Detective Society

by Robin Stevens

Overview

Learn more about Daisy and Hazel’s detecting process and unravel three brand-new mini-mysteries in this “jolly good fun” (Kirkus Reviews) short story companion to the Murder Most Unladylike series for “fans of Enola Holmes, Agatha Christie, and Stuart Gibbs” (School Library Journal).

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are famous for the murder cases they have solved—but there are many other mysteries in the pages of Hazel’s casebook, including the macabre Case of the Deepdean Vampire, the baffling Case of the Blue Violet, and even their very first case of all: the Case of Lavinia’s Missing Tie.

Packed with these brilliant new mini-mysteries and peppered with Daisy and Hazel’s own detecting tips, tricks, and facts, this is the perfect book for fans and budding members of the Detective Society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665919463
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	04/23/2024
Series:	A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	411,918
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

Robin Stevens was born in California and grew up in Oxford, England, across the road from the house where Alice of Alice in Wonderland lived. Robin has been making up stories all her life. She spent her teenage years at boarding school, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she’d get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn’t). She studied crime fiction in college and then worked in children’s publishing. Robin now lives in England with her family.

Read an Excerpt

How to Set Up Your Own Detective Society

How to Set Up Your Own Detective Society

Editorial Reviews

* "One part instruction manual, two parts mystery story, a dash of history, a smattering of recipes, and a lot of fun....It’s all enormously entertaining, serving either as an engaging appendix to those already familiar with the girls’ exploits or as a delightful introduction to the detecting duo and the concept of crime novels....A captivating compilation sure to make an instant investigator out of anyone."

starred review Booklist

04/01/2024

Gr 4 Up—A short story companion to the popular mystery series. At Deepdean School for Girls, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are solving mysteries once again. In this book, they encounter some "mini mysteries" while offering tips, tricks, and tales from the Detective Society. The book opens in 1936 with the introductory text appearing on a typewriter, intriguing readers and setting the tone that this is a legitimate artifact revealing true tips and detective secrets. Readers are given a thorough guide on how to set up their own detective society, the basics of sleuthing, information about special cases and the world of spies, and how to crack unsolved mysteries. Readers are encouraged to choose detective society members well and have them pledge to discover truth and justice. The book even includes instructions on how to make a fingerprint kit. VERDICT Fans of Enola Holmes, Agatha Christie, and Stuart Gibbs will love this engaging text that is a blend of mystery fiction and gumshoe how-to.—Lisa Gieskes

School Library Journal

2024-02-03
Stevens and her fictional characters offer some background to the collection of A Murder Most Unladylike books.

Stevens’ nine-book series is a satisfying and highly successful combination of English boarding-school tales and traditional detective stories, all set in the 1930s. This entertaining companion title includes an invitation to would-be detectives; suggested reading, mostly from the adult world, for mystery aficionados; and four new, interconnected short stories. Readers will encounter instructions on how to set up their own clubs for finding and solving mysteries from Stevens’ characters, including Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong of the Wells & Wong Detective Society (who were first introduced in 2015’s Murder Is Bad Manners), and George Mukherjee and Alexander Arcady of the Junior Pinkertons (the girls’ friends from Weston Boys’ School). The author and her characters take turns narrating the short stories, sharing tips and tricks for detection, and they offer a short history of detective novels. Hazel introduces crime-writing queens Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham; Daisy writes profiles of her 10 favorite fictional detectives, including Inspector Alan Grant, Father Brown, and Nancy Drew; and Stevens shares her favorite mysteries and their influences on the stories she wrote. Readers will also enjoy learning more about spies, codebreaking, and famous unsolved cases and trying the recipes for food mentioned in earlier books. Altogether, this is jolly good fun.

Fans will be thrilled and encouraged to go on exploring the worlds of mystery reading—and solving. (quiz answers, glossary) (Mystery. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews