Top Marks for Murder Review
Top Marks for Murder by Robin Stevens
By Edie HSeptember 27, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★
Top Marks for Murder is the 8th and most recent book in the Murder Most Unladylike series. The series is about two girls who go to a private boarding school, Deepdean, in 1930s Britain. There’s Hazel Wong, a Hong Kong native and the Vice-President and Secretary of the Wells & Wong Detective Society, and the Honourable Daisy Wells, the perfect rich girl, and the President of the Wells & Wong Detective Society. They started investigating murders at age 13 after Hazel discovered their science teacher’s dead body in the gym, and have built up friends and a fantastic reputation (even in Hong Kong!) throughout the series.
Top Marks for Murder starts with Daisy and Hazel coming back to Deepdean after a stay with Daisy’s uncle. Deepdean changed while they were gone and Daisy is no longer the school idol. She’s been replaced by Amina El Maghrabi, a new student in their year. Daisy is very put out, and so when Hazel and Daisy’s friend Beanie says that she saw a murder in the woods, Hazel is sure it’ll be a good distraction. Beanie says she was looking out of a window and saw a man and a woman arguing, and then the man choked the woman, who collapsed, and dragged her away. They start investigating immediately. The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Deepdean is that weekend, so most of the students’ parents are visiting, and Hazel and Daisy determine that the parents are the suspects. After things go wrong at a big dinner, the school is in danger of closing and Hazel and Daisy have to work fast to save the school they love.
I enjoyed this book immensely. It’s highly entertaining, with a gripping plot and exciting twists and turns that are nevertheless easy to follow. There’s occasionally lists of suspects and everything the Detective Society knows about them, which change as the story progresses. It’s really helpful if you get confused. I thought the killer’s motivation seemed a bit unlikely, but otherwise the plot was outstanding.
It’s also really easy to get emotionally invested in the characters and to get into their shoes. The book isn’t just about murder, it’s about the characters. Robin Stevens has developed them really well over the series, especially Hazel, and seeing how Hazel has gotten more and more confident is glorious. Each book is presented as notes Hazel’s written down carefully throughout the case. Because the story is directly from Hazel, the writing style gives you a really good look into Hazel’s personality. Robin Stevens does a great job making Hazel seem believable and human.
Overall, I give this book five stars and would definitely recommend the series. The series is British, but there’s American editions of at least the first 3 books at the library.
Good Job! This review is very well-written and includes all the things an unexperienced reader needs to know in order to be immensely interested in the book. Investigative books have always been appealing to me, and it appears that not only the plot is good, but the characters are intriguing and possible to form a connection with as well. I will definitely be checking this book out soon!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your commentary about this book series, and I thought you did a nice job presenting the information in a way someone who hasn't read the whole series can follow along and understand it nicely. I was drawn in by how concise and clearly you presented the information, and I think I'd love to read the series.
ReplyDeleteI used to love mysteries, but as I got older they started to get really creepy (because of the very common murder element of a lot of mystery novels). However, the way you described the book makes me want to start up reading mystery again. I think the setting of this novel being in a school helps with this, as it is not as grim-feeling as other murder mysteries. Thank you for the review! I look forward to your next posts!
ReplyDeleteI liked all the adjectives you used when describing the book. It made the review more interesting to read, and encouraged me to read it. I also think you split the amount of summary and opinion in the review really well. Overall, I think I would be interested in reading this book. Good job!
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