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The Ministry of Unladylike Activity #2
The Body in the Blitz
The second thrilling and unputdownable mystery starring a new generation of the Detective Society, from the million-copy-bestselling author of Murder Most Robin Stevens.March 1941. Britain is at war, and a secret agency called the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is training up children as spies - because grown-ups always underestimate them. Enter May, Eric and Nuala: courageous, smart, and the Ministry's newest recruits.May's big sister Hazel has arranged for them to stay on a quiet street close to the Ministry, home to an unlikely collection of people thrown together by the war. And it is in the basement of the bombed-out house at the end of that street that they discover something mysterious. Something that was not there when the Blitz wreckage was first combed through. Something that has been placed there recently. A body...Could this be the missing Ministry spy that Daisy Wells is on a dangerous mission in France to find? Or could it be someone else - someone a resident of the street wanted silenced . . . ?
441 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2023
82 people are currently reading
784 people want to read
About the author
Robin Stevens
52 books2,586 followersRobin's books are: Murder Most Unladylike (Murder is Bad Manners in the USA), Arsenic for Tea (Poison is Not Polite in the USA), First Class Murder, Jolly Foul Play, Mistletoe and Murder, Cream Buns and Crime, A Spoonful of Murder, Death in the Spotlight and Top Marks for Murder. She is also the author of The Guggenheim Mystery, the sequel to Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery.
Robin was born in California and grew up in an Oxford college, across the road from the house where Alice in Wonderland lived. She has been making up stories all her life.
When she was twelve, her father handed her a copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and she realised that she wanted to be either Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie when she grew up. When it occurred to her that she was never going to be able to grow her own spectacular walrus moustache, she decided that Agatha Christie was the more achieveable option.
She spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she’d get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn’t). She then went to university, where she studied crime fiction, and then worked at a children's publisher.
Robin lives in England with her husband and her pet bearded dragon, Watson.
Robin was born in California and grew up in an Oxford college, across the road from the house where Alice in Wonderland lived. She has been making up stories all her life.
When she was twelve, her father handed her a copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and she realised that she wanted to be either Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie when she grew up. When it occurred to her that she was never going to be able to grow her own spectacular walrus moustache, she decided that Agatha Christie was the more achieveable option.
She spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she’d get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn’t). She then went to university, where she studied crime fiction, and then worked at a children's publisher.
Robin lives in England with her husband and her pet bearded dragon, Watson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
October 7, 2023
I may be seventeen years old, but I will never tire of Robin Stevens’ murder mystery world. I love it. It’s set in the 1930s-40s with LGBTQ+ themes running seamlessly alongside the main plot- a perfect series for your children to grow up reading, I’d say.
This book is the second in the Ministry of Unladylike Activity series, the sequel series to Murder Most Unladylike. It was an amazing story, I loved the plot and there were so many plot twists I wasn’t sure where it would go next. Nuala, Eric and May are amazing, and obviously I loved seeing the characters from the previous series in the plot as well. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery, regardless of their age or gender.
This book is the second in the Ministry of Unladylike Activity series, the sequel series to Murder Most Unladylike. It was an amazing story, I loved the plot and there were so many plot twists I wasn’t sure where it would go next. Nuala, Eric and May are amazing, and obviously I loved seeing the characters from the previous series in the plot as well. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery, regardless of their age or gender.
October 26, 2023
I read quite a lot of children’s fiction so I was pleased to get an arc of this. It wasn’t awful but it wasn’t that engaging and Eric was the only character I didn’t find annoying in some way! Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.
August 5, 2025
I read the first one in record time and have such fond memories of reading it! The second in the series, Body in the Blitz was a fantastic follow on from the first. It’s not absolutely vital to have read the first one as the second one one sets itself up well enough for you to slip into it and pick up everything you need to. But I’d recommend it, because it’s awesome.
I loved being back with our fearsome trio - May, Eric and Nuala and this time, they’re spies in training! They still find themselves wrapped up in a mystery with a dead body on their hands. Or rather, in the rubble of a bombed out house but the dates don’t quite match up and that body shouldn’t be there…
They really are a formidable team and I always enjoy reading how they work together. They all balance each other out so well- the always cautious and meticulous Eric, the clever and confident Fiona and May, the hothead whirlwind who sometimes lets her mouth run quicker than her head. They all really are fab characters!
The plot was so compelling and I couldn’t stop reading. They’re so exciting and you truly get embroiled into the tale.
I’ve loved this series so far and can’t wait for the next instalment!
Thank you to the author and publisher for this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.
REREAD: this was a re-read to get ready for the third book coming out (set at Christmas). I love this series and don’t need much of an excuse to go back and read it again :). Read it as a buddy read and I can’t wait for the next one now. I was loosing hope that there would be more on the way!
I loved being back with our fearsome trio - May, Eric and Nuala and this time, they’re spies in training! They still find themselves wrapped up in a mystery with a dead body on their hands. Or rather, in the rubble of a bombed out house but the dates don’t quite match up and that body shouldn’t be there…
They really are a formidable team and I always enjoy reading how they work together. They all balance each other out so well- the always cautious and meticulous Eric, the clever and confident Fiona and May, the hothead whirlwind who sometimes lets her mouth run quicker than her head. They all really are fab characters!
The plot was so compelling and I couldn’t stop reading. They’re so exciting and you truly get embroiled into the tale.
I’ve loved this series so far and can’t wait for the next instalment!
Thank you to the author and publisher for this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.
REREAD: this was a re-read to get ready for the third book coming out (set at Christmas). I love this series and don’t need much of an excuse to go back and read it again :). Read it as a buddy read and I can’t wait for the next one now. I was loosing hope that there would be more on the way!
November 10, 2024
Robin Stevens gripping new novel, packed full of mystery and intrigue.
Spring 1941. Britain is at war. May, Nuala and Eric, new spy recruits for the Ministry, are called away from school to pursue their spying careers. But little do they know that there training is going to take a strange turn when a corpse is found in the basement of a bombed out house - a body that shouldn’t be there…
Fast paced, fun, shocking and full of twists and turns. A slightly complex denouement, but apart from that it was just incredible!
Spring 1941. Britain is at war. May, Nuala and Eric, new spy recruits for the Ministry, are called away from school to pursue their spying careers. But little do they know that there training is going to take a strange turn when a corpse is found in the basement of a bombed out house - a body that shouldn’t be there…
Fast paced, fun, shocking and full of twists and turns. A slightly complex denouement, but apart from that it was just incredible!
November 12, 2024
Ich bin etwas enttäuscht vom 2. Band der "Abteilung für undamenhafte Aktivitäten". Band 1 hatte mir noch sehr gut gefallen, die Fortsetzung schwächelt. Das liegt zum einen an den Charakteren, zum anderen an der Geschichte. May ist eine ganz furchtbare Person. Ich mochte sie schon als Nebencharakter bei Wells & Wong nicht, jetzt kann ich sie noch viel weniger ertragen. Sie benimmt sich wie eine verzogene fünfjährige Göre und dass sie mit fast 11 Jahren keinerlei Selbstregulation und soziales Verständnis besitzt und ihre Freundin mal eben beißt (!), weil ihr was nicht passt, ist einfach nicht zu tolerieren. Sie ist in meinen Augen die denkbar schlechteste Hauptperson für ein Kinderbuch. Im 1. Band wurde das durch die beiden anderen Hauptpersonen Nuala und Eric kompensiert, leider bleiben die beiden im 2. Band sehr blass. Gerade Eric verschwindet geradezu in Bedeutungslosigkeit. Das ist sehr schade, den er und Nuala sind starke, vielseitige und interessante Charaktere und eignen sich viel besser als Vorbild. Die Geschichte zog sich leider ziemlich, erst die letzten 150 Seiten nahmen etwas Fahrt auf. Die zahllosen Luftangriffe und die Kriegsereignisse sind zwar gut eingebettet, scheinen sich aber immer zu wiederholen. Vielleicht bin ich auch einfach aufgrund der aktuellen Weltlage nicht in Stimmung, ein Buch über den Krieg und Bomben auf Zivilisten zu lesen. Die Auflösung war in Ordnung, konnte für mich aber nicht das insgesamt mühsame Lesen aufwiegen.
January 9, 2024
this was cute but i dont love this series as much as MMU, i probably wont read any more tbh
October 19, 2023
Oh my gosh I loved this!! I love love love the Murder most unladylike series and have read the series since I was a child and so I am so excited to see the beloved characters from that series but older!
The mystery is good and gives a good idea of living in World War Two and I just loved Robin’s writing. The only thing is I wish there was more of the old characters just because I love them and their group (Daisy, Hazel, Alexander, George and Amina) so so much. But I really enjoyed how much George was in it; he is such a good character and I really liked seeing him a lot in the book!
I’m so excited for the next book and hope the series carries in for many years to come!
The mystery is good and gives a good idea of living in World War Two and I just loved Robin’s writing. The only thing is I wish there was more of the old characters just because I love them and their group (Daisy, Hazel, Alexander, George and Amina) so so much. But I really enjoyed how much George was in it; he is such a good character and I really liked seeing him a lot in the book!
I’m so excited for the next book and hope the series carries in for many years to come!
February 23, 2024
I thoroughly enjoyed this -- it's all at once suspenseful and charming. Whereas in Book One, I felt like the pace was never reached, the middle a bit of a slog, THE BODY IN THE BLITZ had me engaged from beginning to end. When I say that Robin Stevens is like Agatha Christie for kids, I really do mean it!
October 21, 2023
I love Robin Stevens’ books, I really do, but there’s something about this new one that wasn’t quite doing it for me. The three new heroes still haven’t clicked, for starters. Nuala and Eric are vaguely interesting, but May's youthful impulsiveness makes her a rather frustrating and often irritating heroine.
As for the murder plot, I found the closed-room murder mystery set within the London mews quite uninteresting, with no support characters really standing out. Robin Stevens' books have always suffered from having too large a cast, and this was no different.
The fact that it is yet another book set during World War II meant that the book felt indistinguishable from the first one. I’m quite sick of the children playing at spies already.
Maybe the fact that I read this book in the midst of an ungoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict made me disconnect from the setting, I don't know, but after the children went down to the shelter to escape from a raid for a third time, and then a fourth, and then a fifth, it was all beginning to get a bit samey. The book tries to raise some good points about war and conflict, but they never really land, and I'm personally too tired of having to read 2023 newspapers about 21st-century wars to feel a certain way about a last-minute monologue in the book about how good things can still happen in wars. Thanks, but no thanks.
Also, I appreciate Robin Stevens’ continued efforts to make her books inclusive (I love that the main characters are all foreigners; and despite my feelings about her character, I love that May is unapologetically ADHD), but at the same time it’s beginning to feel like an exercise in box-ticking. Apparently one of the characters in the book was trans, but said character featured so little that her transness felt like an afterthought. It was mentioned in Robin Steven’s Author’s Note, but never in the book itself. If you’re going to include a trans character, don’t make it a footnote.
The same goes for Daisy, really. Apparently Daisy is autistic; great, but then at least take the effort to show it in the book, instead of mentioning it as a quick “correction” in the author’s note. Show me she is autistic, instead of telling me.
I feel bad for giving this two stars because I've loved the majority of these books, but I think this one missed the mark.
As for the murder plot, I found the closed-room murder mystery set within the London mews quite uninteresting, with no support characters really standing out. Robin Stevens' books have always suffered from having too large a cast, and this was no different.
The fact that it is yet another book set during World War II meant that the book felt indistinguishable from the first one. I’m quite sick of the children playing at spies already.
Maybe the fact that I read this book in the midst of an ungoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict made me disconnect from the setting, I don't know, but after the children went down to the shelter to escape from a raid for a third time, and then a fourth, and then a fifth, it was all beginning to get a bit samey. The book tries to raise some good points about war and conflict, but they never really land, and I'm personally too tired of having to read 2023 newspapers about 21st-century wars to feel a certain way about a last-minute monologue in the book about how good things can still happen in wars. Thanks, but no thanks.
Also, I appreciate Robin Stevens’ continued efforts to make her books inclusive (I love that the main characters are all foreigners; and despite my feelings about her character, I love that May is unapologetically ADHD), but at the same time it’s beginning to feel like an exercise in box-ticking. Apparently one of the characters in the book was trans, but said character featured so little that her transness felt like an afterthought. It was mentioned in Robin Steven’s Author’s Note, but never in the book itself. If you’re going to include a trans character, don’t make it a footnote.
The same goes for Daisy, really. Apparently Daisy is autistic; great, but then at least take the effort to show it in the book, instead of mentioning it as a quick “correction” in the author’s note. Show me she is autistic, instead of telling me.
I feel bad for giving this two stars because I've loved the majority of these books, but I think this one missed the mark.
October 18, 2023
as always I read it as soon as it came out and as usual it did not disappoint 💣🏚️📿
Read
October 3, 2023As a huge fan of the Murder Most Unladylike series as well as the first Ministry book, I thought The Body in the Blitz was just okay; the best way to describe it would be that I think this would have been a great book to binge read as part of a series. The characters and interactions were a delight - May was absolutely my favourite and I just loved how Nuala described her. I did enjoy the MMU character cameos but I thought the book relied too much on them. The mystery was alright, not one of my favourites as I'm not a big fan of mysteries where the characters work for the government, and maybe for this reason I felt this was just not as good as Robin Stevens' other books. However, I'm still really happy that I got to read this and I'm excited to read the next instalment.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review. All opinions are my own.
October 25, 2023
I didn't love this quite as much as the other MMUs overall, but there were individual parts I really enjoyed - the vibes felt quite genuinely creepy in places which was great, as was the recurring cameos of my fave characters from the previous series! I was also a big fan of the representation stepping up even more (from an already good place.)
the mystery and investigation itself did feel a little bit convoluted and far-fetched, and I found it harder to believe in it in the same way I've connected with the others. I also found the ending a tad rushed and not overly realistic.
probably a 3.5 star if I could give halves!
the mystery and investigation itself did feel a little bit convoluted and far-fetched, and I found it harder to believe in it in the same way I've connected with the others. I also found the ending a tad rushed and not overly realistic.
probably a 3.5 star if I could give halves!
May 5, 2024
4.5 stars!
The amount of nostalgia this book made me have is unreal
The amount of nostalgia this book made me have is unreal
August 2, 2024
If I'm being honest, I'm mostly reading this series for the snippets of Hazel, Daisy and the rest of the gang that we get.
March 14, 2024
After such an amazing first book I was a little worried. OMG it most definitely did not disappoint. Yet again from the beginning I was just pulled in. It was great seeing some familiar characters mixing with new characters. I loved the mix of training to be a spy while doing some detective work. Plus the added bonus that yet again I was guessing until the very end. Really hope she adds more to the series.
December 16, 2024
CAWPILE 6.71
3.5 STARS
So glad to be up to date with this series- I love the diverse cast, the positive LGBTQ+ rep and the mysteries are quite entertaining.
I would probably pick up the sequel too.
3.5 STARS
So glad to be up to date with this series- I love the diverse cast, the positive LGBTQ+ rep and the mysteries are quite entertaining.
I would probably pick up the sequel too.
December 22, 2025
It was really good, and I enjoyed it, but I feel like they were kind of slow at working out certain details... I had my theories though, and at one point or another,they were confirmed. I don't think they'll ever beat the originals!
December 5, 2023
A book set in wartime London with a team of pre-teenage spies investigating a murder. Robin Stevens includes many diverse characters and demonstrates what is unlawful is not always morally wrong.
January 21, 2024
A. MAZE. ING.
June 20, 2025
I need more.
July 24, 2025
Liked the beginning but got distracted and then had to give it back to the library so dnf.
October 5, 2024
3.5 stars
September 30, 2024
As someone who grew up reading MMU I can't say it matches the greatness of that series, but as a sequel series it is pretty good.
As not as good as the first book but I still thoroughly enjoyed the second and will be reading the rest of the series.
As not as good as the first book but I still thoroughly enjoyed the second and will be reading the rest of the series.
July 14, 2025
ale męczyłam te książkę MASAKRA
January 23, 2025
Alles wat Robin Stevens schrijft is enig.
September 11, 2023
Thanks to NetGalley and Puffin for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
I had bought the first book of this series ages ago and just hadn't got round to reading it. I started it a few days ago, reading a few pages here and there, and then I saw that the second one was up for review. So I zoomed through it ready for this one. Which meant the two books felt like just one big story.
As with all kids books, I'm considerably older than the target audience, but at over 450 pages long, there's plenty for adults to get their teeth into.
I hadn't heard of Robin Stevens before and so therefore hadn't read any of her books before, but she's opened my eyes on how to write such a detailed and complex story but still make it fun and entertaining for children to read.
Yes I know it's a fictional book just for entertainment purposes. But by writing a book aimed at kids about the war, we ensure that it is not forgotten. With each generation, the memories fade, and we run the risk of forgetting altogether. So yes it is a piece of kiddy fun, but it carries an important message.
I know the 'detectives' are children, but there is an element of Agatha Christie about it, a bit Miss Marple, which was a nice touch.
I am sorry but I really don't like the character of May. She is well written, and I know it's part of her characterisation, which I suppose means Robin has done a good job here, and I know she's only meant to be 11 but she is so annoying. So self-centered and rude and uppity. I wasn't a fan in the first book and I'm still not. I really liked Eric. He is such a sweet character and I'm glad he gets more of a role in this book. Nuala...she grew on me. By the end of the first book, I liked her. And I think she improves in this sequel. There are other characters, adults mainly, but for once it is the children that are front and centre, they run the show and they're important, the adults are just there prop the story.
What I will say is that you know they are children. Yes they're the key players and they're obviously trying to do an adult's job, but they're obviously kids. Robin hasn't been afraid of showing their youth and naivety and inexperience. Yes they make mistakes, they're innocent, they're rough around the edges. She hasn't made them grow up too much and compete with the adults. They provide their own merits away from the adults.
I suppose you could read this one without the first, as it does quickly explain what happened by the end of the first chapter or so, but I don't think you'd get the same impact. I found the first one just a little slow to start with, but this one gets stuck in straight away. It has more about the actual ministry and what they do, and I really enjoyed that.
I do feel at times she has been ab it try hard, trying to shoehorn a number of topics that end up overshadowing the main story. I can't fully explain it, but I hope that if you read this you'll know what I mean. I felt my focus should have been more on the crimes, rather than what was happening in the background, which was a little bit of a shame.
I know it is a kids book, but I've read many kids books as an adult that really thrilled me. If I'm being brutally honest, I did enjoy this, I really did, it was interesting, but it doesn't have a whole lot of depth to it. It's very much a "telling the reader" what is happening rather than showing, but maybe that's what children want from their books.
Having said all of that, I say this is a well written book, much like the first, and is enjoyable and thoughtful and adventurous, with just a few things (I personally think) that need to be ironed out
3.5 stars rounded up to 4
I had bought the first book of this series ages ago and just hadn't got round to reading it. I started it a few days ago, reading a few pages here and there, and then I saw that the second one was up for review. So I zoomed through it ready for this one. Which meant the two books felt like just one big story.
As with all kids books, I'm considerably older than the target audience, but at over 450 pages long, there's plenty for adults to get their teeth into.
I hadn't heard of Robin Stevens before and so therefore hadn't read any of her books before, but she's opened my eyes on how to write such a detailed and complex story but still make it fun and entertaining for children to read.
Yes I know it's a fictional book just for entertainment purposes. But by writing a book aimed at kids about the war, we ensure that it is not forgotten. With each generation, the memories fade, and we run the risk of forgetting altogether. So yes it is a piece of kiddy fun, but it carries an important message.
I know the 'detectives' are children, but there is an element of Agatha Christie about it, a bit Miss Marple, which was a nice touch.
I am sorry but I really don't like the character of May. She is well written, and I know it's part of her characterisation, which I suppose means Robin has done a good job here, and I know she's only meant to be 11 but she is so annoying. So self-centered and rude and uppity. I wasn't a fan in the first book and I'm still not. I really liked Eric. He is such a sweet character and I'm glad he gets more of a role in this book. Nuala...she grew on me. By the end of the first book, I liked her. And I think she improves in this sequel. There are other characters, adults mainly, but for once it is the children that are front and centre, they run the show and they're important, the adults are just there prop the story.
What I will say is that you know they are children. Yes they're the key players and they're obviously trying to do an adult's job, but they're obviously kids. Robin hasn't been afraid of showing their youth and naivety and inexperience. Yes they make mistakes, they're innocent, they're rough around the edges. She hasn't made them grow up too much and compete with the adults. They provide their own merits away from the adults.
I suppose you could read this one without the first, as it does quickly explain what happened by the end of the first chapter or so, but I don't think you'd get the same impact. I found the first one just a little slow to start with, but this one gets stuck in straight away. It has more about the actual ministry and what they do, and I really enjoyed that.
I do feel at times she has been ab it try hard, trying to shoehorn a number of topics that end up overshadowing the main story. I can't fully explain it, but I hope that if you read this you'll know what I mean. I felt my focus should have been more on the crimes, rather than what was happening in the background, which was a little bit of a shame.
I know it is a kids book, but I've read many kids books as an adult that really thrilled me. If I'm being brutally honest, I did enjoy this, I really did, it was interesting, but it doesn't have a whole lot of depth to it. It's very much a "telling the reader" what is happening rather than showing, but maybe that's what children want from their books.
Having said all of that, I say this is a well written book, much like the first, and is enjoyable and thoughtful and adventurous, with just a few things (I personally think) that need to be ironed out
September 10, 2023
3/5
New Detective Society - May, Nuala and Eric arrive to London to continue their training in the Ministry. With several agents missing in action abroad, the Ministry is understaffed and need all hands-on deck. The children stay at Hogarth Mews, a close-knit residence area where everyone has something to hide, and stumble upon a body at the basement of the bombed-out house.
Despite my initial decision to abandon the series after my tremendous disappointment with the first book, I found myself irresistibly drawn back into it. And gladly so. This book was significantly better than its former, fixing many of the issues I had with it. First of all, the pacing was great. Everything propelled the plot forward, even when the children chased a false lead. While I still believe that the book could had benefited from a trimmer length, it never felt sluggish. The shift from dual narration to a single narrator, Nuala, was an excellent decision, resulting in a more coherent storytelling. Eric, whom I deemed a wasted character due to his meditative role between the two girls, emerged as a standout. His intelligence, intuition, and exceptional deduction skills, coupled with emotional intelligence, made him shine. May’s heft was significantly reduced, for the better. She and the others do not gel with each other as comfortably as Daisy and Hazel did. But nevertheless, despite her whiny disposition and tendency to make wild assumptions, this book highlighted her admirable qualities: she is forthcoming and brave despite being afraid. And lastly, I was glad Stevens not only acknowledged the clumsiness of the previous investigation, where Daisy ultimately solved the case for them, but notably improved on that front.
One aspect I particularly love in this spin-off series is its wartime backdrop. Stevens's meticulous research of the period allowed her to vividly depict daily life during the Blitz, seamlessly integrating it into the mystery's construction—rationed food, air raids, bomb shelters, and the bonds forged under duress. It was also lovely to reunite with familiar characters, namely Alexander, George, Beanie, Lavinia, Amina and Chief Inspector Priestly, some playing more prominent roles in the narrative than others. Yet, once again, I feel these cameos, while nostalgic, are there solely to pander to fans and, inadvertently, dilute their impact. Unfortunately, regarding the new trio, I struggle to develop a strong connection with them. Additionally, the excessive queer representation felt forced and unrealistic (three openly gay relationships, one implied, and a trans character whose identity wasn't tied to the mystery). The MMU series positively embraced queer identities from the onset, but this time it seemed overtly exaggerated and incongruous. The ethical dilemma raised at the end - about acting unlawfully for noble reasons - was a thought-provoking touch. However, its resolution felt too quick and neatly tied up, lacking realistic consequences.
Overall, the book provided an enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing. Still, I cannot help comparing this series to the original, and in that regard, it continues coming up short. Then again, I am many years above the target audience.
New Detective Society - May, Nuala and Eric arrive to London to continue their training in the Ministry. With several agents missing in action abroad, the Ministry is understaffed and need all hands-on deck. The children stay at Hogarth Mews, a close-knit residence area where everyone has something to hide, and stumble upon a body at the basement of the bombed-out house.
Despite my initial decision to abandon the series after my tremendous disappointment with the first book, I found myself irresistibly drawn back into it. And gladly so. This book was significantly better than its former, fixing many of the issues I had with it. First of all, the pacing was great. Everything propelled the plot forward, even when the children chased a false lead. While I still believe that the book could had benefited from a trimmer length, it never felt sluggish. The shift from dual narration to a single narrator, Nuala, was an excellent decision, resulting in a more coherent storytelling. Eric, whom I deemed a wasted character due to his meditative role between the two girls, emerged as a standout. His intelligence, intuition, and exceptional deduction skills, coupled with emotional intelligence, made him shine. May’s heft was significantly reduced, for the better. She and the others do not gel with each other as comfortably as Daisy and Hazel did. But nevertheless, despite her whiny disposition and tendency to make wild assumptions, this book highlighted her admirable qualities: she is forthcoming and brave despite being afraid. And lastly, I was glad Stevens not only acknowledged the clumsiness of the previous investigation, where Daisy ultimately solved the case for them, but notably improved on that front.
One aspect I particularly love in this spin-off series is its wartime backdrop. Stevens's meticulous research of the period allowed her to vividly depict daily life during the Blitz, seamlessly integrating it into the mystery's construction—rationed food, air raids, bomb shelters, and the bonds forged under duress. It was also lovely to reunite with familiar characters, namely Alexander, George, Beanie, Lavinia, Amina and Chief Inspector Priestly, some playing more prominent roles in the narrative than others. Yet, once again, I feel these cameos, while nostalgic, are there solely to pander to fans and, inadvertently, dilute their impact. Unfortunately, regarding the new trio, I struggle to develop a strong connection with them. Additionally, the excessive queer representation felt forced and unrealistic (three openly gay relationships, one implied, and a trans character whose identity wasn't tied to the mystery). The MMU series positively embraced queer identities from the onset, but this time it seemed overtly exaggerated and incongruous. The ethical dilemma raised at the end - about acting unlawfully for noble reasons - was a thought-provoking touch. However, its resolution felt too quick and neatly tied up, lacking realistic consequences.
Overall, the book provided an enjoyable mystery that kept me guessing. Still, I cannot help comparing this series to the original, and in that regard, it continues coming up short. Then again, I am many years above the target audience.
September 11, 2025
lie to the police guys it's what daisy wells would've wanted
November 4, 2023
Lovely as always to dive back into the world of MMU/MUA … If I’m honest, I don’t think this is her best book, but enjoyed it nevertheless !
March 17, 2024
I love this book so much. I wasn't sure if i'd like it at first, but this was amazing. i also loved how much the characters from murder most unladylike were in it
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