A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery, Book 8 - Top Marks for Murder

Ah, it feels so good to take another trip back into the world of Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong.  I can't believe it has been nearly a year since I read the last mystery - it does not seem like that long has passed since Daisy and Hazel were solving a murder in the theater!  But, here we are, joining the teenage girls of the Detective Society as they return to Deepdean school for not only a new semester, but a new murder.  This series has been so much fun, and quite honestly, now that I've started re-reading the Dana Girls series, I realize that this series (set at an all-girls' school) is more or less a modern updating of the Dana Girls (although Daisy and Hazel are not biological sisters, they do act much like Louise and Jean do in the Dana Girls' series!).  Maybe that is part of the reason I have enjoyed it so much.

 

Top Marks for Murder is the eighth full-length novel in the series (not counting the short-story, The Case of the Missing Treasure), and it returns the girls to their roots at Deepdean.  In this particular mystery, the school is gearing up for its 50th anniversary celebration, with a number of special events planned and all of the girls' parents traveling in to help celebrate.  Daisy and Hazel, however, find themselves parent-less -Daisy's parents are working and Hazel's parents are not willing to make the long trip from Hong Kong.  However, the events in the story do end up bringing a "guardian" of sorts for the girls in the form of Inspector Priestly.  And, quite honestly, the Inspector's interactions with Daisy and Hazel is so perfectly written, and the Inspector finally does something that I've been waiting decades for people in these murder mystery series to do - he admits to the girls that "against all probability, when you've told me that something terrible has happened, it always has.  You have been right again and again, and I would be no sort of policeman at all if I did not believe in your detective powers by now" (p. 83).  FINALLY!  It seems in every mystery series, whether in prose form or on television, no matter how many murders the amateur sleuths solve, when the next murder comes along, the sleuths' theories and observations are dismissed, and they are told to stay out of it.  Here, at least, we have a police inspector who recognizes the fact that these two teenage girls have solved eight murders (to date), so why would you not give credence to what they have to say?  It is only logical!

 

Author Robin Stevens really plays up the misdirect with this mystery.  When Beanie witnesses what she believes to be a murder - a man choking a woman - in the woods outside of Deepdean, the Detective Society is on the case  The only problem is, there is no body and no proof of any murder.  The only clues they have are a French matchbook and a ladies' hat.  Oh, and there's that invitation to the 50th anniversary celebration - meaning that either the murderer or the victim (or both!) was to be a guest at the weekend's ceremonies.  The girls sketch out a plan to figure out the identity of the victim by watching what woman, who is supposed to be there, fails to appear.  But that plan goes awry when Miss Barnard's sister, Mrs. Rivers, is murdered at the opening dinner.  It is clear she is poisoned (the girls recognize the affects of arsenic right away), and it is also clear that only someone at the table where she sat could have done it. But who was it?  As the girls keep watch on their suspects, and as they re-enact the actions of those at the table that night, they think they are getting closer to the truth.  But then another murder attempt takes place during a garden party (I say attempt, because this victim manages to survive!), and the girls are forced to re-think everything.  Finally, Daisy comes up with a plan to smoke out the culprit; but will her plan succeed or simply put her in unwarranted danger?

 

It truly is a mind-boggling mystery, as Stevens is constantly changing the direction.  Just when you think you have an idea of what's going on, she pulls the rug out from underneath you and turns it around.  And without giving anything away, even after the girls figure out who the culprit is (or who they believe it is), it turns out everything - and everyone! - is not quite what it seems.  There are some great surprises in the story, some unexpected plot twists, and one very sad revelation regarding the mother of one of the girls in the Detective Society (not Daisy or Hazel, so breathe easy).  The final revelation of the truth at the end is definitely worthy of Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle.

 

One interesting tidbit I noticed while reading was a passing reference to the possibility that one of the new girls' father might be "the rightful owner of the Koh-i-Noor diamond" (p. 11).  I had to read that twice, because something in the back of my mind was nagging at me, telling me I had read about that diamond before, and not necessarily all that long ago.  Well, looking back, it seems that the Koh-i-Noor diamond was discussed on page 40 of The Clue in the Jewel Box, the Nancy Drew mystery originally published back in 1943.  That particular diamond (which is real, by the way) originated in India, who still makes claims of ownership to the diamond, and it allegedly has a curse connected with it (supposedly only a woman or God can wear it).  It is currently on display at the Jewel House in the Tower of London as a part of the Crown Jewels.

 

One other aspect of the story I should mention is the use of A.E. Houseman's poem, "Terence, This is Stupid Stuff."  It is actually a rather ingenuous idea, and Steven's incorporation of the last stanza of that poem into the story and the importance to unraveling the truth of what really happened at that dinner table is just one of the many reasons why this book is so thoroughly enjoyable.

 

There is some hints at the end of this book about a trip to Egypt for Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, so I'm hoping that the next book will have a mystery filled with pyramids, mummies, and all kinds of great Egyptian hieroglyphic-clues! 

RATING:  10 salt shakes and champagne glasses out of 10 for a cleverly plotted mystery full of twists and turns that will make your head spin!