Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book
Rate this book
Meet Malice Morbid Malign.
She’s from Underland, land of sorcery, spooks and skulduggery.
But, she and her family live in Topside and mischief is their business . . .
And the business of mischief is a very serious matter!
The Malign family hate books, they hate bathing, and they especially HATE helping.
But when grandad ghosts mysteriously start disappearing, including her own beloved grandad, Malice has no choice but to help.
She partners up with her Uncle Vexatious, to solve the case of the missing grandad-ghosts.

The perfect next read for Amelia Fang fans.

This funny, warm-hearted, spooky series – stunningly illustrated by Hannah Peck, and beautifully packaged – will delight and enchant middle-grade readers aged 9-12.

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2020

6 people are currently reading
206 people want to read

About the author

Jenni Jennings

6 books17 followers
See also: Jenny Bayliss

I live with my husband in a small seaside town in England; our son's have grown up and flown the nest but come home for holidays.

I write middle-grade children's books and Adult fiction (under the name Jenny Bayliss).

Malice in Underland is my debut children's novel.

I was a baker for many years and still love to make cakes and of course eat cakes!

After a days writing I like to cook and listen to an audiobook, I find the act of chopping and preparing food, while someone reads me a story, deeply relaxing.

I enjoy walking and reading (though not at the same time) and gardening. I love spending time with my family and eating chocolate and if I can do both those things at once, then I am a happy woman.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
51 (28%)
4 stars
68 (37%)
3 stars
58 (32%)
2 stars
3 (1%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for Schizanthus Nerd.
1,317 reviews305 followers
June 28, 2021
Malice Malign and her family live in Malignant House, which has a skeleton in nearly every closet. The Maligns are Topunders, magical people who can live in Topside amongst the living or in Underland with the ghosts, but they don’t truly fit anywhere.
They’re a bit too alive for Underlanders and a bit too mischievous for the Topsiders.
Malice’s parents love being representatives of Underland, a “land of sorcery, spooks and skulduggery”. They run the Malign Haunting Agency, which takes some of Underland’s most troublesome ghosts and uses them to haunt houses Topside.

Malice was originally concerned about telling her best (only) friend, Seth, about her family but Seth loves talking to Malice’s ghost Grandad and thinks ordinary is overrated.
“I really enjoy your family’s weirdness.”
When ghosts begin to disappear, Uncle Vex, a private investigator in Underland, asks for Malice’s help. Now that her own Grandad has also disappeared, Malice is on the case.

[image error]

Malice can talk to nighttime creatures, but has a special affinity with moths. Ma and Pa don’t understand Malice who, like Grandad, was born without the menacing-mischief gene. They disapprove of the things Malice likes, including reading and bathing regularly. Thankfully she has Grandad, who I absolutely adored. His brand of mischief is harmless fun.

Seth’s enthusiasm about all things weird was contagious. I hope he has a bigger role in the next book. I think he’s going to be my favourite character in this series.

This was a fun book. I enjoyed exploring both the Topside and Underland. All of the locations were easy to imagine and even the minor characters were interesting. I’ll definitely be continuing this series.
“And there’s nothing whatever the matter with being unusual!”
Blog - https://schizanthusnerd.com
Profile Image for Kirsty Carson.
657 reviews45 followers
September 10, 2023
This was such an enjoyable read! Concept was fantastic! Both hilarious and spooky and such wonderful characters and illustrations. Happy to know this is a series as I will definitely be continuing my adventures into Underland with Malice and her crew!
Profile Image for Belles Middle Grade Library.
867 reviews
November 3, 2020
This was such a fun cute read!! I really loved it! It’s gothic, fun spooky, funny, & amazing. I loved Malice. She was such a fun character. The whole plot was different & such a page turner. I absolutely adored grandad. I loved Seth. Such a great friend. Uncle Vex was hilarious lol this is full of adventure & plenty of mischief. I hope this is just the start, & that there will be more, but I’m not sure.🤞🏻 beautiful cover & so many beautiful illustrations throughout the book as well!!😍😍Highly recommend!!💜💜
Profile Image for Dominique Valente.
Author 17 books184 followers
November 18, 2020
Adored this so much. Gloriously gothic and wonderful - have reviewed it for the publishers but adding a recommendation here too!
Profile Image for enbokstund.
89 reviews11 followers
July 27, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
En ljuvligt härlig och fantasifull middlegrade med ett gäng härliga karaktärer som du älskar från första sida . Fylld av humor och underfundighet och ett helt magiska illustrationer som är lika lekfulla som storyn.
Profile Image for Fay.
912 reviews7 followers
July 29, 2025
malice is a nice young girl, and her family hate it.
this had such an Addams family vibe about it, every bad was good and helping people is disgraceful, until her family are the ones that needed help.
uncle vex reminds me of Gildory Lockhart with his suits and how vain he is about his hair.
Profile Image for Jenn.
501 reviews20 followers
April 24, 2021
I can see kids liking this one.
Profile Image for Tim Robinson.
1,117 reviews56 followers
May 8, 2024
A lighthearted romp through a very English underworld. Also, disgusting food.
Profile Image for Tanya Ball.
105 reviews5 followers
December 23, 2020
Alice in Wonderland + Potkins and Stubbs + Amelia Fang

Looking forward to the rest of this series and more from Jenni Jennings!

Malice Malign lives in Topside, with her parents who run a haunting agency specializing in mischief, her ghostly grandpa, and baby sister (Antipathy Rose). When Grandpa goes missing, she must team with the black sheep of the family, her Uncle Vex, and explore her origins, Underland. Will they find out what happened before it’s too late?

I ADORED this book!! It was SO MUCH FUN to meet the Maligns and all the other characters! Malice was so much fun and so opposite her parents! I loved her different relationships and how she could be whoever the person she was with needed her to be. The book had great nonsensical and Dickensian vibes! The scenes in the Topland were fun, but Underland was where it was at! So much to unpack going forward!

That COVER and those illustrations and endpapers by Hannah Peck!!

Buy this for yourself or someone looking for A whimsical new MG mystery series! Or if you’re twisted, get it for someone who doesn’t put much stock in “stuff no’ nonsense!”
Profile Image for Helen Tamblyn-Saville.
54 reviews8 followers
September 22, 2020
A gloriously gothic adventure, perfect for fans of Amelia Fang looking to step up.

Great fun. I loved Malice Malign, a warm-hearted mischief maker in the Malign family. Some lovely little puns in there which are sure to make adults smile and perfectly illustrated by Hannah Peck. An easy read, full of gothic mischief and adventure - I'm hoping that there will be more to come!
Profile Image for Steph.
1,449 reviews87 followers
September 20, 2020
Really enjoyed this! I loved the sense of family and the mystery nature of this. You can’t beat a good ‘guess who/whodunnit’ kind of story! I loved all of the illustrations throughout. A brilliant fun story about a young girl who doesn’t feel like she fits in, who finds that she can follow her heart and learn to stand out (and that it’s a good thing!) A brilliant book in the run up to Halloween!
Profile Image for Rebekah.
342 reviews109 followers
December 27, 2020
Cute, fun and a few subtle nods for the grown ups reading. Looking forward to the rest of the series
Profile Image for Alann Blanco.
387 reviews9 followers
October 14, 2021
5⭐️ (Una historia divertida, atrapante y llena de misterio)

Esta es una historia increíble que no puedes soltar hasta llegar al final, la edición física contiene ilustraciones maravillosas para acompañar esta historia y hacerla toda una experiencia.

Conocemos a Malicia que es muy diferente al resto de su familia que le gusta hacer fechorías y nunca ayudar a las personas. Para no decepcionar a su madre trata de seguir los mismos pasos aunque sus travesuras son más inocentes.
Los Maligno son una familia que no tienen amigos pero Malicia tiene un único amigo que siempre le ayuda con sus aventuras, Seth.
Malicia se parece tanto a su tío que es detective y le gusta resolver casos para ayudar a las personas, Malicia cree que puede ser mala influencia para ella o al menos su madre siempre esta repitiéndoselo hasta que su tío le pide ayuda con un caso sobre la desaparición de abuelitos fantasmas por todos lados.
Malicia no acepta y sigue con el lema de su familia “No es nuestro problema” hasta que es su propio abuelo que se ve implicado en la situación, ha desaparecido de la nada y lo peor es que ella ha visto como se desvanecía. ¿Encontrará el misterio está desapariciones?

Toda una historia de investigación que es entretenida y divertida de leer, los personajes son tan increíbles que necesito saber más de sus vidas. Realmente necesito una aventura más de Malicia, Seth y su tío investigador.

No pueden perderse esta historia, es garantía.
Profile Image for Helen.
1,468 reviews39 followers
October 29, 2020
Really liked this book.
Malice doesn't like to cause mischief, if only her family was the same.
Hopefully this will be a series of books.
The illustrations were brilliant
Profile Image for Ladylike0.
295 reviews11 followers
October 5, 2023
herbstlich, spooky und humorvoll, süß

Nach der Inhaltsbeschreibung war ich Feuer und Flamme. Es klang nach der genau richtigen Mischung aus herbstlich, spooky und humorvoll, süß. Und es hält genau, was er verspricht und bietet noch ein bisschen mehr.

Unheil stiften ist Familie Fies‘ Geschäft. Spukgeister in Häusern freilassen, Auto Alarmanlagen am Morgen auslösen oder jede Menge andere Streiche gehören zum Alltag. Sauber machen? Pah. Hygiene ist auch nichts für die Unterländer. Nur Fiona ist das weiße Schaf in der Fies-Familie. Als Geister-Opas verschwinden, fängt sie an zu ermitteln und heimlich Gutes zu tun.

Am Anfang der Geschichte gibt es erst mal kurze, lustige Steckbriefe zu den einzelnen Familienmitgliedern. Was sie mögen, was sie nicht mögen und was gut zu wissen ist. Bereits hier wurde es schräg und lustig. Über die Seiten hinweg gibt es total geniale Karikaturen. Tolle Bilder über die einzelnen Charaktere und Szenerien, wie den Unterländer Markt, Geister Opas beim Pokern oder gespielte Streiche. Sie sind im Stil des Covers, verspielt und länglich.

Die Geschichte zeigt ein Extrem von Eltern, die dich nicht bitten sauber zu machen, sondern Dreck zu kreieren. Es gibt einige Szenen, in denen sich auch jedes Kind kurz mal lachend „iiihhh!“ denken wird. Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass es die Freiwilligkeit fördert Gutes zu tun wie Fiona.

Fiona ist eine intelligente, junge Dame mit Köpfchen, die grusel- aber nicht spukfrei ermittelt. Somit ist es auch gut für kleine Leser geeignet. Kinder werden hier ihren Spaß haben zu ermitteln, leichte Zusammenhänge zu verstehen und ein wenig miträtseln zu können.

Die Familienmitglieder sind skurril, grausig abscheulich und super schnell ins Herz geschlossen. In den Ermittlungen hilft insbesondere ihr Onkel mit der Privatdetektei im Unterland und Fionas bester Freund Simon, der Sonderbares mag. Ein Haufen origineller Charaktere mit schaurig, witzigen Eigenschaften.

Fazit:

Ein mehr als süßes Kinderbuch. Toller Humor, wundervoll originelle Charaktere mit düsterem Touch. Spukgeister, Hexen und Streiche sorgen für leichte Herbst- und Halloween-Vibes. Es hilft spielerisch über gute Taten, Hygiene und sonstigen Haushaltsregeln nachzudenken. Gleichzeitig lassen die Ermittlungen Spannung aufkommen. Gut überlegte Details, wie die humorvollen Steckbriefe oder verspielte Karikaturen, setzen das i-Tüpfelchen.

Zitat:

"Sie hatte weder die rosigen Wangen noch die Dolchzähne ihrer Schwester, doch beide hatten die gleiche Stupsnase, wie eine Skisprungschanze für Flöhe" - Beschreibung von Fiona und ihrer Schwester
Profile Image for Susanne Krajan.
1,242 reviews9 followers
October 3, 2023
Familie Fies verdient mit Unheil ihren Lebensunterhalt. Sie leben in Oberland sind aber eigentlich Unterländer. Sie versorgen das Oberland (Welt der gewöhnlichen lebenden Menschen) mit Schaurigkeiten. Allerdings weiß das Oberland gar nicht, dass das Unterland existiert. Aufgabe jedes Familienmitgliedes ist es, so viel Chaos wie möglich zu stiften. Fiona Fies hebt sich allerdings vom Rest der Familie ab. Sie hat einen Menschenfreund, was strengstens verboten ist, mag Bücher und ist nicht wirklich gern gemein. Was für den Rest der Familie ja gar nicht geht. Doch dann muss sie sich entscheiden, denn Geister verschwinden aus Unterland und auch Fionas Opa ist davon betroffen. Ihr Onkel ist Detektiv in Unterland und braucht Hilfe. Aber man hilft anderen nicht in der Familie Fies.

Die Bekanntmachung der Charaktere zu Beginn mit kleinem Steckbrief fand ich toll. Man lernt direkt die Figuren kennen und bekommt natürlich auch ein Bild zu ihnen. Die gelegentlich auftretenden Illustrationen haben mir auch richtig gut gefallen.

Fiona fand ich wahnsinnig sympathisch als Charakter. Ich fand es toll, dass sie ihre Andersartigkeit lebte, auch wenn das ihrer Familie nicht wirklich gefiel. Fiona ist schlau und weiß zu helfen. Sie hat mir sehr gut gefallen.

Handlungstechnisch gab es das Rätsel um die verschwundenen Opas zu klären und auch so lag viel Spannung und der Luft, so dass man unbedingt dran bleiben wollte.


Fazit

Jetzt wisst ihr also Bescheid. Fehlt Luft im Reifen oder läuft allgemein mal etwas nicht so wie es soll, haben vermutlich die Unterländer die Finger im Spiel. Nur nicht Fiona, denn die ist nicht böse. Ich war gern mit ihr und ihrem Onkel den verschwundenen Opas auf der Spur. Es gab so viel zu entdecken, dass es einfach Spaß gemacht hat. Ich glaube, dass es vielen jungen Lesern ähnlich gehen wird. Es gibt Spannung, interessante Figuren und natürlich ein Rätsel zu lösen. Am Ende 5 Sterne von mir.
Profile Image for Phil.
Author 18 books273 followers
November 8, 2020
Cozy, spooky and inventive, this is a great, fast paced story which sees our non-conformist and plucky heroine, Malice, teaming up with her uncle to find out the who, what and why behind her grandad’s mysterious disappearance. This gives the author an ideal opportunity to let the reader tag along as Malice explores Underland, so as well as getting to know her, we get to experience Underland in all its quirky, ghostly glory. Fantastic world building and memorable characters make this a recommended read.
Profile Image for Denise.
73 reviews9 followers
June 27, 2021
i loved this book, it was a cute gothic and spooky read. I loved to learn about underland.
The world have very different rules than ours and it was amazing to learn them all. I loved the characters in this book. They were done amazingly from side character to the pov. They felt like real characters with lot of karakter and background.

I liked that Malice was finding her own way and had support in her friend , grandpa and uncle.

I hope this is only the first in the series with more to come, cause im desperate for more adventures in underland.
41 reviews
September 27, 2023
Dieses Buch habe ich gemeinsam mit meinem Sohn gelesen. Wir haben gelacht, es war spannend und wir haben mitgefiebert und es hat uns richtig gut gefallen. Was für ein tolles, modernes Kinderbuch für coole Kids.

Die Bilder sind sehr schön gezeichnet und beim ansehen haben wir viel Spaß gehabt, aber auch viel miteinander geredet. Ganz toll geschrieben, ganz toll illustriert
Profile Image for Caspette.
305 reviews
July 30, 2025
A cute, spooky, mystery about a girl who investigates the disappearance of her grandpa (who happens to be a ghost). Malice is a girl who likes learning and going to school much to her parent’s disgust. Malice is not good at being malicious like her family. When her grandpa disappears she investigates why he, and other ghosts, have started vanishing.
Profile Image for Christopher Trend.
134 reviews
January 20, 2021
A fun read. Reminiscent of the Addams family & The Twits. An enjoyable adventure in the hunt for ghosts both in our world and in Underland.
A feel good story which shows the benefits of doing good; even if you’re parents don’t want you to.
Profile Image for Bev.
1,178 reviews54 followers
June 6, 2021
Deliciously gothic, funny and quirky middle grade story about Malice who is far too ‘good’ for her mischief making, ghastly family. A mystery with a difference, I very much enjoyed this darkly comic caper and loved the character sketches and shopping guide at the end.
Profile Image for Sabrina.
1,617 reviews36 followers
March 13, 2022
I loved the descriptive imagery, despite it being quite gruesome! It's so imaginative and really makes you visualise it. I like the whole Underland vs Topside thing and the relationship between Malice and her Uncle Vex.
Profile Image for Jasmine - The Librarian's Bookcase.
146 reviews1 follower
August 14, 2023
A Very enjoyable read! Loved the characters and the story was so exciting. It was such a whimsical story, perfect for younger/developing readers. Loved Malice and her friend Seth, they make quite the team. I loved the illustrations too! Really made the book special.
Profile Image for Jasmin.
50 reviews
September 18, 2023
Die Geschichte rund um Familie Fies hat mir total gut gefallen. Ein tolles Buch mit einer schönen Message. Den Schreibstil fand ich gut und angemessen und das Cover ist ja mal total süß. Absolute Empfehlung.
Profile Image for Lauren | Wordsbetweenlines.
1,045 reviews19 followers
April 28, 2025
Malice isn’t like her family. She doesn’t want to cause bad mischief. But she has a mystery that needs to be solved. Cozy grandpas are disappearing!

This was such a charming story. A perfect gothic read for middle graders.
Profile Image for Emma Louise.
46 reviews3 followers
January 13, 2021
I thought I was going to enjoy this a lot more than I did! But still love the Halloween / gothic vibes of this book!
204 reviews
Read
September 2, 2021
A delightful tale set in 2 worlds - the Top side and the Underworld where grandad's are going missing, Malice takes the case to try and solve where her grandad has disappeared.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.