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May 12

The Agathas By Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Dawson

The Agathas‘The Agathas’ is the latest book by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson.

After falling from grace last summer, Agatha Christie-obsessed Alice Ogilvie needs to stay out of trouble. While smart and reclusive Iris Adams just wants to get the hell out of Castle Cove. But now they have a murder to solve. There are clues the police are ignoring, a list of suspects a mile long and some very dangerous cliffs. Amateur detectives Alice and Iris are about to uncover just how many secrets their sleepy seaside town is hiding.

If you enjoy Young Adults novels with a side of mystery, then look no further as the wittily named ‘The Agathas’ is for you!

The story is seen through the narrative of Alice and Iris, who attend the same school in Castle Cove but are complete opposites. Alice Ogilvie was once part of the popular school gang called ‘the mains’ whilst Iris Adams sits on the outside with the other nerds. She and her mother struggle for money and making ends meet, so when the opportunity arises for Iris to get extra funds by tutoring Alice, she jumps at the chance. But their tutoring are put to one side when one of Alice’s former best friends, Brooke is found dead and Alice’s ex-boyfriend is accused of her murder.

The story then flows between the characters as the pair of them embark on finding Brooke’s killer as well as finding out somethings about themselves along the way. I really enjoyed this story, it’s dark, relatable and reads like a traditional whodunnit but from the fresh approach of teenage girls.

Both Alice and Iris are great characters, although polar opposites in life, they have a respect for each other’s lives. Where Iris has poverty, she has a mother who loves her dearly and where Alice has an absent family, she has an abundance of wealth at her fingertips. Their determination to solve the crime much to the local police’s despair along with the Alice’s love of Agatha Christie novels really made for entertaining reading. Alice has had some issues in her past life and because of this has lost her status at the high school and this makes for sad reading when former best friends turn on her.

As well as some great lines from and tips from Agatha Christie novels, there were also the inclusion of text messages and communications from students at the the high school. This insight gave the bitchy, gossipy side from teenage girls, cliques and how malicious rumours can harm lives.

This story is the first book written by writing duo Kathleen Glasgow and Elizabeth Lawson and it was written wonderfully, I’d love to know more about the writing process of the book, whether they each played a character or simply wrote alternating chapters.

A story filled with murder, good old fashioned mystery and packed with hormonal teenagers and gossip, ‘The Agathas’ was a tremendous book and I look forward to reading more from this writing duo.

You can buy ‘The Agathas’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.

Nov 3

Murder By The Minster By Helen Cox

Murder By The Minster‘Murder By The Minster’ is the latest book by Helen Cox.

It’s a perfectly normal day for Kitt Hartley at her job at the University of the Vale of York library, until Detective Inspector Halloran arrives at her desk to tell her that her best friend, Evie Bowes, is under suspicion of murder. Evie’s ex-boyfriend Owen has been found dead – with a fountain pen stabbed through his heart – and all the evidence points to her. Kitt knows there is no way Evie could murder anyone – let alone Owen, who she adored. Horrified that the police could have got it so wrong, Kitt decides there’s only one thing to do: she’s going to investigate Owen’s murder herself. She’s read hundreds of mystery novels – how hard can it be?
With the help of her assistant Grace, and the occasional hindrance of the library’s eccentric regulars, Kitt summons up all her investigative powers (absorbed over years of reading everything from Agatha Christie to Ian Rankin) and gets to work. She soon discovers that down the quaint streets and snickelways of York lie darker doings than she’d ever dreamed, but she needs to watch her step: the murderer is watching her. And they haven’t finished killing yet…

I spent my Sunday curled up with this book and I couldn’t put it down until I reached the final page. The first book in the new Kitt Hartley Yorkshire Mystery series is a fantastic introduction to a new mystery series and one that I wholeheartedly hope there will be more books to come.

The story is seen solely through the narrative of librarian Kitt Hartley, who finds herself using her own investigative skills to solve a murder of her best friend’s Evie’s ex boyfriend. As Evie finds herself the prime suspect in the murder, Kitt is determined to solve the crime using her own wit and the skills she has learned from her love of Agatha Christie novels. But as Kitt delves deeper into the crime and the bodies pile up much to the disgruntlement of the Yorkshire police, particularly a handsome detective called Halloran.

I loved the characters in this book, particularly Kitt and her librarian assistant Grace as the pair piece together the evidence and clues they have gathered along the way. They are a comical duo who make for entertaining reading with their banter. Throughout the story, there are many suspicious characters that leave you wondering if they are the murderers.

Gripping from the first page, this cleverly written book is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Miss Marple. Set in a sleepy village with a pair of witty and cunning librarians at the centre of the drama, ‘Murder By The Minster’ is an exciting new series that is riddled with mystery and drama throughout.

You can buy ‘Murder By The Minster’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.