The Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens
Yet again there has ended up being an enourmous gap between this post and my last one. I am rapidly learning that the main problem with having a blog about being a neurodivergent and disabled teenager is that being a neurodivergent and disabled teenager takes up so much time and energy there isn’t much left over for blogging!
Anyway it’s a book reveiw today, and one that I’m very excited about. The Murder Most Unladylike series, by Robin Stevens has been one of my favourites for years. However when I startes this blog I decided that I could not reveiw it because it had no connection with neurodiversity. Until in 2023 Robin Stevens, the author, announced her diagnosis of autism and ADHD. I was incredibly excited-I’m always looking out for new ND ( neorodivergent) role models and so for one of my favourite authors of all time to be autistic and ADHD was a very big deal. But that was only the beginning of my excitement as, with her own diagnosis, Robin Stevens announced that severel of her main charecters where also ND. This was amasing. For the characters I’ve loved since I was eight, who’ve helped me through some really difficult times, who feel like my best freinds and who frequently seem more real than the people around me…for them to officially be ND. It meant more to me than I could possibly tell you.
So anyway, the plot. Set in 1930s Britain, 13 year old Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their own detective society to help relieve the monotony of boarding school. When they find the body of their science mistress in the gym, they work day and night to catch the killer. But that is only the start of their detective adventures! Over a nine book series, plus two short story collections, Robin Stevens takes the Detective Society to all manner of mysterious locations. From Cambridge in the snow to a mansion in Hong Kong and a run down London theatre to a beatiful Nile river cruise. Set over 2 years of Daisy and Hazels lives we watch them mature and change. Learning more about themselves, the world, falling in love…and of course catching the killer every time.
A spin of series stars Hazels little sister May and her co-detectives Eric and Nuala. These books are set during WW2 and are perfect either for fans of the original books or people discovering that world for the first time.