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Murder Club
The Very Merry Murder Club
A collection of wintery crime and mystery stories by thirteen of the most exciting and diverse authors in children’s books today!
Co-edited by Serena Patel, the award-winning author of the Anisha: Accidental Detective series and by Robin Stevens, author of the bestselling Murder Most Unladylike series.
Sleuthing through the snow, on a merry mysterious day, in disguise we go, investigating all the way . . .
This gorgeous wintery collection brings together thirteen bestselling, award-winning and exciting debut authors: Abiola Bello, Annabelle Sami, Benjamin Dean, E.L. Norry, Elle McNicoll, Dominique Valente, Joanna Williams, Maisie Chan, Nizrana Farook, Patrice Lawrence, Roopa Farooki, Serena Patel and Sharna Jackson. With stunning illustrations by Harry Woodgate.
Join them as part of the Very Merry Murder Club as they lead you on a snow-covered wintery journey of festive foul play and murderously magnificent mysteries!
Co-edited by Serena Patel, the award-winning author of the Anisha: Accidental Detective series and by Robin Stevens, author of the bestselling Murder Most Unladylike series.
Sleuthing through the snow, on a merry mysterious day, in disguise we go, investigating all the way . . .
This gorgeous wintery collection brings together thirteen bestselling, award-winning and exciting debut authors: Abiola Bello, Annabelle Sami, Benjamin Dean, E.L. Norry, Elle McNicoll, Dominique Valente, Joanna Williams, Maisie Chan, Nizrana Farook, Patrice Lawrence, Roopa Farooki, Serena Patel and Sharna Jackson. With stunning illustrations by Harry Woodgate.
Join them as part of the Very Merry Murder Club as they lead you on a snow-covered wintery journey of festive foul play and murderously magnificent mysteries!
432 pages, Paperback
First published October 28, 2021
90 people are currently reading
1408 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
January 8, 2022
This was so fun & so cozy! I read a story or 2 a night for the most part, & I had a great time. I love my mystery MG as you know, especially some detective mystery ones-& this had several ones like that. I loved all of them except 1-& that 1, I loved the whole story except the end lol Can’t say a whole lot since it’s a mix of short stories, but this is full of
atmosphere & all the “drinking hot cocoa snuggled around a fire on a winter night reading” vibes. lol This definitely made me want more from authors in here I hadn’t read before, & that makes me very happy & excited. If I HAD to pick a favorite, it would probably be the 1 I still find myself thinking about- Scrabble & Murder by Nizrana Farook. There is also great diversity to the characters. Along with the beautiful cover & stunning naked hardback, there are beautiful full page illustrations sprinkled throughout by Harry Woodgate too! Highly recommend!💜
atmosphere & all the “drinking hot cocoa snuggled around a fire on a winter night reading” vibes. lol This definitely made me want more from authors in here I hadn’t read before, & that makes me very happy & excited. If I HAD to pick a favorite, it would probably be the 1 I still find myself thinking about- Scrabble & Murder by Nizrana Farook. There is also great diversity to the characters. Along with the beautiful cover & stunning naked hardback, there are beautiful full page illustrations sprinkled throughout by Harry Woodgate too! Highly recommend!💜
January 4, 2022
Shoe-Dunnit - 4/5 stars
It's Snow Crime - 3/5 stars
The Beast of Bedlywood - 4/5 Stars
The Christmas Heist - 2/5 stars
Cool For Cats - 3.5/5 stars
It Takes A Thief To Catch A Thief - 4/5 stars
The Frostwilds - 4/5 Stars
Scrabble And Murder - 3/5 stars
The Ticking Funhouse - 3.5/5 Stars
Ice And Fire - 3/5 Stars
Silent Night - 3/5 Stars
No Piste For The Wicked - 3/5 Stars
The Cove(n) At Christmas - 3/5 Stars
It's Snow Crime - 3/5 stars
The Beast of Bedlywood - 4/5 Stars
The Christmas Heist - 2/5 stars
Cool For Cats - 3.5/5 stars
It Takes A Thief To Catch A Thief - 4/5 stars
The Frostwilds - 4/5 Stars
Scrabble And Murder - 3/5 stars
The Ticking Funhouse - 3.5/5 Stars
Ice And Fire - 3/5 Stars
Silent Night - 3/5 Stars
No Piste For The Wicked - 3/5 Stars
The Cove(n) At Christmas - 3/5 Stars
December 6, 2022
I’m so disappointed, it’s really rare I decide not to try and finish a book but but I just couldn’t. The first story was fine, the second was horrid writing wise (nobody talks like that, ever..), next two boring and forgetful, and the one after the writing again was so frustrating I just couldn’t do it. Super sad, I love middle grade and murder mysteries (which btw, most of the at stories I did read where not, despite the title...), so I really thought this would be the perfect Christmas read. Boy was I wrong...
January 21, 2023
3.5 stars
A varied mix of stories, some are better than others.
A varied mix of stories, some are better than others.
October 5, 2022
I found it very disappointing
December 23, 2024
I really enjoyed the variety and diversity of this anthology. Some stories were great, but most were just okay or forgettable.
December 6, 2021
Read- December 2021 for The Festive Readathon
- I can't even begin to explain how excited I was for this short story collection. 13 murder mystery stories set at Christmas? It was like this book was written just for me but that wasn't what this book was at all. I honestly only enjoyed the first story in this collection, all of the others were kind of or really lacking. I honestly hated the majority of the stories within this as you will now see from my ratings for each individual strories.
Shoe-Dunnit- 4 Stars
It's Snow Crime- 1 Star
The Beast of Bedleywood- 2 Stars
The Christmas Heist- 2 Stars
Cool for Cats- 1 Star
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief- 1 Star
The Frostwilds- 3 Stars
Scrabble and Murder- 3 Stars
The Ticking Funhouse- 2 Stars
Ice and Fire- 3 Stars
Silent Night- 3 Stars
No Piste for the Wicked- 2 Stars
The Cove(n) at Christmas- 3 Stars
- I can't even begin to explain how excited I was for this short story collection. 13 murder mystery stories set at Christmas? It was like this book was written just for me but that wasn't what this book was at all. I honestly only enjoyed the first story in this collection, all of the others were kind of or really lacking. I honestly hated the majority of the stories within this as you will now see from my ratings for each individual strories.
Shoe-Dunnit- 4 Stars
It's Snow Crime- 1 Star
The Beast of Bedleywood- 2 Stars
The Christmas Heist- 2 Stars
Cool for Cats- 1 Star
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief- 1 Star
The Frostwilds- 3 Stars
Scrabble and Murder- 3 Stars
The Ticking Funhouse- 2 Stars
Ice and Fire- 3 Stars
Silent Night- 3 Stars
No Piste for the Wicked- 2 Stars
The Cove(n) at Christmas- 3 Stars
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December 24, 2024
The Very Merry Murder Club
Source: Everand
Dates Read: 12/22/24 - 12//24
Average Stars: DNF No Rating
So going into this I did not realize this was a collection of middle grade short stories. I’ve tried very hard to stick with it but I’m just not in the mood. Also of the 5 stories I’ve listened to only one has actually had murder and I’m confused about the title. Maybe it should have been called The Very Merry Mystery Club.
Maybe I'll come back to finish the series when I'm in the mood. (which is why I left the template)
Shoe-Dunnit - Elle McNicoll - 3.5 Stars - Briar - Never underestimate the quiet child. She is observant and will figure out who killed the annoying one.
It’s Snow Crime - Roopa Farooki - 4 Stars - Tulip, Ali - A very cute caper with a snow storm, 2 sets of twins, a sassy grandma club and an ice cream man/taxi driver. I’d like to read more about this cast of characters.
The Beast of Bedleywood - Annabelle Sami - 2.5 Stars - Tamsin, Rumi - Honestly, I don’t remember what happened in this book. I know the kids followed a mysterious person into the woods and found a label for explosives. They told the police and the tree was saved by I have no idea how we go there nor do I want to go back and find out. *shrug*
The Christmas Heist - Abiola Bello - 2 Stars < /i> - Roe, Various members of her dance team - A quick story about getting an unfair judgement overturned and restoring the name of their coach. It was just meh to me.
Cool for Cats - Patrice Lawrence - 3 Stars - Name, Name - the mystery was solved fairly quickly
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief - Masie Chan- ?? Stars - Name, Name - Thoughts
The Frostwilds - Dominique Valente - ?? Stars - Name, Name - Thoughts
Scrabble and Murder - Nizrana Farook - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
The Ticking Funhouse - Benjamin Dean - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
Ice and Fire - Joanna Williams - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
Silent Night - Serena Patel - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
No Piste for the Wicked - E.L. Norry - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
The Cove(n) at Christmas - Sharna Jackson - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
Source: Everand
Dates Read: 12/22/24 - 12//24
Average Stars: DNF No Rating
So going into this I did not realize this was a collection of middle grade short stories. I’ve tried very hard to stick with it but I’m just not in the mood. Also of the 5 stories I’ve listened to only one has actually had murder and I’m confused about the title. Maybe it should have been called The Very Merry Mystery Club.
Maybe I'll come back to finish the series when I'm in the mood. (which is why I left the template)
Shoe-Dunnit - Elle McNicoll - 3.5 Stars - Briar - Never underestimate the quiet child. She is observant and will figure out who killed the annoying one.
It’s Snow Crime - Roopa Farooki - 4 Stars - Tulip, Ali - A very cute caper with a snow storm, 2 sets of twins, a sassy grandma club and an ice cream man/taxi driver. I’d like to read more about this cast of characters.
The Beast of Bedleywood - Annabelle Sami - 2.5 Stars - Tamsin, Rumi - Honestly, I don’t remember what happened in this book. I know the kids followed a mysterious person into the woods and found a label for explosives. They told the police and the tree was saved by I have no idea how we go there nor do I want to go back and find out. *shrug*
The Christmas Heist - Abiola Bello - 2 Stars < /i> - Roe, Various members of her dance team - A quick story about getting an unfair judgement overturned and restoring the name of their coach. It was just meh to me.
Cool for Cats - Patrice Lawrence - 3 Stars - Name, Name - the mystery was solved fairly quickly
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief - Masie Chan- ?? Stars - Name, Name - Thoughts
The Frostwilds - Dominique Valente - ?? Stars - Name, Name - Thoughts
Scrabble and Murder - Nizrana Farook - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
The Ticking Funhouse - Benjamin Dean - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
Ice and Fire - Joanna Williams - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
Silent Night - Serena Patel - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
No Piste for the Wicked - E.L. Norry - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
The Cove(n) at Christmas - Sharna Jackson - Stars - CHARACTER NAMES HERE - REVIEW/THOUGHTS HERE
Read
January 24, 2023YOUTUBE / INSTAGRAM
Ha sido una lectura entretenida, pero la verdad es que esperaba mucho más. Como siempre, valorar una antología es difícil, porque no todos los relatos gustan por igual.
El caso es que el primer relato me gustó mucho (es de mis favoritos de todo el libro) y sí que era justo lo que yo estaba buscando. Un asesinato en un Bed & Breakfast cubierto de nieve, una niña que investiga a los huéspedes... Hasta ahí todo genial.
Y habría seguido siendo genial si el resto de historias hubieran seguido en esa línea, pero no. Los siguientes relatos varían mucho en un montón de aspectos, pero yo habría preferido que me recordaran más a un buen misterio de los clásicos en vez de diferenciarse tanto unos de otros.
Porque supongo que la búsqueda de originalidad ha sido en parte uno de los objetivos de este recopilatorio. Y sí que le tengo que conceder el mérito de la gran diversidad que incorpora, ya no solo en temáticas (desde un asesinato en un hotel hasta historias bastante más fantásticas) sino también en tema de razas, orientación sexual, etc. Ese aspecto creo que es muy positivo, sobre todo en un libro para niños.
No obstante, muchas de las historias no han llegado a entusiasmarme demasiado. Y uno de los motivos ha sido que no se trata de misterios de asesinato, como sugiere el título, sino que muchos eran misterios de otro tipo, y alguno de ellos ni siquiera tenía muchísimo misterio. La verdad, creo que The very merry detective club habría sido un título más acertado.
También está el hecho de que, por ejemplo, uno de los relatos pertenece a un universo ya creado y establecido previamente. Mientras estaba leyendo la historia sentía que había detalles que se comentaban demasiado de pasada, y que parecía hacerse referencia a demasiadas cosas previas que no se ven en el relato. Y, efectivamente, lo busqué y los personajes de ese relato son protagonistas de al menos una novela entera anterior. Por lo tanto, me parece un error haberlo incluido (y aún más no avisarlo), porque resulta bastante claro que hay mucho desarrollo que se presupone pero no se enseña a quien solo lee la antología.
Ha sido una lectura entretenida, pero la verdad es que esperaba mucho más. Como siempre, valorar una antología es difícil, porque no todos los relatos gustan por igual.
El caso es que el primer relato me gustó mucho (es de mis favoritos de todo el libro) y sí que era justo lo que yo estaba buscando. Un asesinato en un Bed & Breakfast cubierto de nieve, una niña que investiga a los huéspedes... Hasta ahí todo genial.
Y habría seguido siendo genial si el resto de historias hubieran seguido en esa línea, pero no. Los siguientes relatos varían mucho en un montón de aspectos, pero yo habría preferido que me recordaran más a un buen misterio de los clásicos en vez de diferenciarse tanto unos de otros.
Porque supongo que la búsqueda de originalidad ha sido en parte uno de los objetivos de este recopilatorio. Y sí que le tengo que conceder el mérito de la gran diversidad que incorpora, ya no solo en temáticas (desde un asesinato en un hotel hasta historias bastante más fantásticas) sino también en tema de razas, orientación sexual, etc. Ese aspecto creo que es muy positivo, sobre todo en un libro para niños.
No obstante, muchas de las historias no han llegado a entusiasmarme demasiado. Y uno de los motivos ha sido que no se trata de misterios de asesinato, como sugiere el título, sino que muchos eran misterios de otro tipo, y alguno de ellos ni siquiera tenía muchísimo misterio. La verdad, creo que The very merry detective club habría sido un título más acertado.
También está el hecho de que, por ejemplo, uno de los relatos pertenece a un universo ya creado y establecido previamente. Mientras estaba leyendo la historia sentía que había detalles que se comentaban demasiado de pasada, y que parecía hacerse referencia a demasiadas cosas previas que no se ven en el relato. Y, efectivamente, lo busqué y los personajes de ese relato son protagonistas de al menos una novela entera anterior. Por lo tanto, me parece un error haberlo incluido (y aún más no avisarlo), porque resulta bastante claro que hay mucho desarrollo que se presupone pero no se enseña a quien solo lee la antología.
December 22, 2022
I feel mean rating this so poorly as I am not the target audience but I don't think most of these stories lived up to the promise of festive childlike mysteries. Many of them had annoying characters and boring plots and I only finished it for a book club where most were in agreement.
I want to highlight two stories that were the exception:
1) The Frostwilds by Dominique Valente was a creepy but delightful fairytale with echoes of The Snow Queen and The Hunger Games fantastically paced and creative
2) The Ticking Funhouse by Benjamin Dean was actually really scary in places and left on a shocking cliff-hanger.
Outside of these two, these stories don't inspire me to try out any of these authors.
I want to highlight two stories that were the exception:
1) The Frostwilds by Dominique Valente was a creepy but delightful fairytale with echoes of The Snow Queen and The Hunger Games fantastically paced and creative
2) The Ticking Funhouse by Benjamin Dean was actually really scary in places and left on a shocking cliff-hanger.
Outside of these two, these stories don't inspire me to try out any of these authors.
December 17, 2022
This book (physically) is so so so pretty! But the contents were less so and I feel bad even writing this.
SYNOPSIS:
"A wintery middle-grade mystery collection of short stories by thirteen of the most exciting and diverse authors in children's books today! A wintery middle-grade mystery collection of short stories by thirteen of the most exciting and diverse authors in children's books today!"
MY THOUGHTS:
❄️ Everything about this book - middle grade, murder mystery, diverse authors + Christmas - should have equaled something I would absolutely devour and love, but it just didn't.
❄️ It started out strong with the first short story and from then it just got a bit dull and boring 😬
❄️ From the middle onwards (bearing in mind the stories are short) I started to skim-read them!
❄️ The diversity rep was brilliant but the storytelling just fell flat for me in the majority of the stories.
❄️ The title is a bit deceiving as most of the stories are NOT murder mysteries! Just mysteries which is fine but I believed it to be something else, because, you know THE TITLE!
I am gutted, this has all the ingredients of something I would love and it just didn't deliver.
SYNOPSIS:
"A wintery middle-grade mystery collection of short stories by thirteen of the most exciting and diverse authors in children's books today! A wintery middle-grade mystery collection of short stories by thirteen of the most exciting and diverse authors in children's books today!"
MY THOUGHTS:
❄️ Everything about this book - middle grade, murder mystery, diverse authors + Christmas - should have equaled something I would absolutely devour and love, but it just didn't.
❄️ It started out strong with the first short story and from then it just got a bit dull and boring 😬
❄️ From the middle onwards (bearing in mind the stories are short) I started to skim-read them!
❄️ The diversity rep was brilliant but the storytelling just fell flat for me in the majority of the stories.
❄️ The title is a bit deceiving as most of the stories are NOT murder mysteries! Just mysteries which is fine but I believed it to be something else, because, you know THE TITLE!
I am gutted, this has all the ingredients of something I would love and it just didn't deliver.
December 7, 2022
I love middle grade mysteries, but sadly I was a bit disappointed with this book of short stories. Firstly, the title is misleading, because most of the stories aren't about murders at all, just general mysteries. Which would probably have been fine if I'd loved them more. It's always hard to rate collections of short stories by different authors, because each story could get a wildly different rating, but since most of these stories were just okay, with a few I liked and a few I didn't like, I'm going to go with the "It was okay" rating of two stars.
January 6, 2025
a mixture of quality, with most mid at best.
1: good! a promising start. wish they were all like this
2: excruciating. if this is what appeals to children, we are cooked.
3: decent, enjoyed
4: dull
5: very low stakes. struggling to reconcile the title with the plot because there isn’t a crime in this one, let alone a murder
6: to be truthful i was not paying attention
7: a welcome change of pace. and a decently interesting story with a message! thank god.
8: great!
9: kid horror is dull. truthfully I wasn’t paying much attention but I think to be confusing and disorientating was the point of the story so i didn’t miss much. it was okay, different to the other stories (which is nice) but didn’t make it any less dull.
10: the only historical one which is a genuine shocker. decent but extremely rushed.
11: good!
12: decent start but ends abruptly with a conclusion that makes very little sense. mispronunciation of hercule made me so cross.
13: a good finish
1: good! a promising start. wish they were all like this
2: excruciating. if this is what appeals to children, we are cooked.
3: decent, enjoyed
4: dull
5: very low stakes. struggling to reconcile the title with the plot because there isn’t a crime in this one, let alone a murder
6: to be truthful i was not paying attention
7: a welcome change of pace. and a decently interesting story with a message! thank god.
8: great!
9: kid horror is dull. truthfully I wasn’t paying much attention but I think to be confusing and disorientating was the point of the story so i didn’t miss much. it was okay, different to the other stories (which is nice) but didn’t make it any less dull.
10: the only historical one which is a genuine shocker. decent but extremely rushed.
11: good!
12: decent start but ends abruptly with a conclusion that makes very little sense. mispronunciation of hercule made me so cross.
13: a good finish
December 30, 2021
I really enjoyed some of the stories, Others were just fillers and needed more than the allocated 30 pages or so to flesh the story out right. Overall it was an Ok book as the Ok or poor stories out numbered the really good ones. If I read another anthology, Im going to try and rate each story, getting an average of them all. Recommend for a bit of a fluffy palate cleanser.
January 9, 2023
Since this year I am trying to actually follow my reading goals and not forget I ever made them after two days, I have decided to DNF this anthology. It's just not for me and I am not getting anything out of it, so I see no reason to push through when I could already be moving on to the next read that has more potential to be amazing and breath-taking.
I have completed seven out of the thirteen works, getting up to 54%, and overall I can say that this was a bit all over the place in terms of quality and level of engagement, spanning from unique and well-crafted tales to nonsensical stories that were lackluster to say the least. Part of the reason I didn't end up enjoying this as mush as I had hoped is that I was expecting more murder. Mysteries revolving around theft, strange occurrences or other weird stuff just aren't interesting to me, especially in middle grade books where you know that the resolution can't be anything mind-blowing – so the majority of what I had read just fell flat for me. And it makes sense that the only two stories I did truly enjoy were the one featuring an actual murder investigation and the one with fantastical elements to it; the others were underwhelming at best.
Here are the ratings of the stories I have completed, which pretty much average out at 3 stars. Despite my lack of desire to finish off the book, I am still going with that final rating as I didn't think there was anything wrong with what was written… it just didn't work out for me personally.
• Shoe-dunnit by Elle McNicoll — 4/5
• It's Snow Crime by Roopa Farooki — 1/5
• The Beast of Bedleywood by Annabelle Sami — 3/5
• The Christmas Heist by Abiola Bello — 2/5
• Cool for Cats by Patrice Lawrence — 3.5/5
• It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief by Maisie Chan — 2.75/5
• The Frostwilds by Dominique Valente — 4/5
I have completed seven out of the thirteen works, getting up to 54%, and overall I can say that this was a bit all over the place in terms of quality and level of engagement, spanning from unique and well-crafted tales to nonsensical stories that were lackluster to say the least. Part of the reason I didn't end up enjoying this as mush as I had hoped is that I was expecting more murder. Mysteries revolving around theft, strange occurrences or other weird stuff just aren't interesting to me, especially in middle grade books where you know that the resolution can't be anything mind-blowing – so the majority of what I had read just fell flat for me. And it makes sense that the only two stories I did truly enjoy were the one featuring an actual murder investigation and the one with fantastical elements to it; the others were underwhelming at best.
Here are the ratings of the stories I have completed, which pretty much average out at 3 stars. Despite my lack of desire to finish off the book, I am still going with that final rating as I didn't think there was anything wrong with what was written… it just didn't work out for me personally.
• Shoe-dunnit by Elle McNicoll — 4/5
• It's Snow Crime by Roopa Farooki — 1/5
• The Beast of Bedleywood by Annabelle Sami — 3/5
• The Christmas Heist by Abiola Bello — 2/5
• Cool for Cats by Patrice Lawrence — 3.5/5
• It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief by Maisie Chan — 2.75/5
• The Frostwilds by Dominique Valente — 4/5
December 29, 2023
3.5*
I always find it difficult to rate short story collections as there are always going to be some that are more to my liking than others .
The title was a bit misleading as some of the stories were mysteries rather than murder .
The diversity and range of characters were good .
The frostwilds was my favourite ,
The ticking funhouse was spooky and interesting but there were so many unanswered questions that it felt like it was the start of book rather than a complete story ,
The scrabble and murder made me smile because when my husband and I play scrabble it could easily turn to murder .
I can imagine myself when I was the target age for reading this book enjoying reading it .
I always find it difficult to rate short story collections as there are always going to be some that are more to my liking than others .
The title was a bit misleading as some of the stories were mysteries rather than murder .
The diversity and range of characters were good .
The frostwilds was my favourite ,
The ticking funhouse was spooky and interesting but there were so many unanswered questions that it felt like it was the start of book rather than a complete story ,
The scrabble and murder made me smile because when my husband and I play scrabble it could easily turn to murder .
I can imagine myself when I was the target age for reading this book enjoying reading it .
December 27, 2022
*3.5*
Grateful a book like this exists for young readers because the diversity is great and there is something for everyone to enjoy.
I would have called this book The Very Merry Mystery Club instead so that all the stories work better as a collection. Otherwise only include stories which involve murder.
The stories I most enjoyed:
Shoe-Dunnit
The Christmas Heist
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief
The Frostwilds
Scrabble and Murder
Ice and Fire
The Ticking Funhouse (though the ending didn't go down well with me)
Grateful a book like this exists for young readers because the diversity is great and there is something for everyone to enjoy.
I would have called this book The Very Merry Mystery Club instead so that all the stories work better as a collection. Otherwise only include stories which involve murder.
The stories I most enjoyed:
Shoe-Dunnit
The Christmas Heist
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief
The Frostwilds
Scrabble and Murder
Ice and Fire
The Ticking Funhouse (though the ending didn't go down well with me)
August 19, 2024
Shoe Dunnit - 5/5
It's Snow Crime - 3/5
The Beast of Bedleywood - 3/5
The Christmas Heist - 2/5
Cool for Cats - 3/5
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief - 4/5
The Frostwilds - 5/5
Scrabble and Murder - 5/5
The Ticking Funhouse - 5/5
Ice and Fire - 4.5/5
Silent Night - 4/5
No Piste for the Wicked - 4.5/5
The Cove(n) at Christmas - 4/5
It's Snow Crime - 3/5
The Beast of Bedleywood - 3/5
The Christmas Heist - 2/5
Cool for Cats - 3/5
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief - 4/5
The Frostwilds - 5/5
Scrabble and Murder - 5/5
The Ticking Funhouse - 5/5
Ice and Fire - 4.5/5
Silent Night - 4/5
No Piste for the Wicked - 4.5/5
The Cove(n) at Christmas - 4/5
January 21, 2022
A fun anthology featuring a whole bunch of fun mystery + murder stories.
This was SO difficult not to read but I really wanted to save this boy for Christmas. And I managed to do that, but I had to hold myself in many a time.
In this delightful book we get 13 short stories by various authors. There is mystery, simple and harder, there is murder, stabs and poison. Most of the stories take place in the now with a few exceptions (and one didn’t work). I loved how diverse the stories were featuring characters from all colours, with various reps, with LGBT feelings or parents, and more. It is such a delight and it made me smile. I loved the various mysteries as well, two featuring my favourite setting… snowed inn, um, in. XD It was great how some of the mysteries were solved within a heartbeat while others took a tad longer. I do have to specify that normally I am not the kind of girl who likes the easily solved ones or where the character just magically knows, but it worked in this one. It was just right.
I loved how each story was presented as if it was a file in an archive of The Very Merry Murder Club.
My favourite stories would be: Scrabble and Murder, Ice and Viper, and Shoe-Dunnit (with the fab quote: Herriot laughed, bemused. “You’re an old soul, aren’t you?” “No, just autistic.”).
With the story about the dancing, I wasn’t sure how I felt about them taking the trophy/swapping it. It just seemed too far for me. I would have rather had them solve the mystery and get things fixed.
There were three stories I wasn’t sure about. The first was It’s Snow Crime. Technically a good story, however it felt like it was either part of a series or just a part of a whole book. There were things happening that had me confused, like with the villain, or how grandma was a spy apparently? It just didn’t work for me. Then there was Frostwilds which I skipped after reading a few pages. Why did I skip? Because while it had that wintery setting… it just didn’t fit at all with the tone or the mood of the book. Suddenly we are transported to a magical winter world with a monster lurking around. Then there was the one about the funhouse. Again, fun to read at times, but I don’t know because it was more fantasy/more magical and had a very inconclusive ending I just wasn’t a fan of the story.
There are also various reps included in the book and I have to applaud for the autism and the ADHD rep. Those were just perfection.
I loved the illustrations, there style was just so much fun, though I just wish there were more of them and not just one per story. Haha.
So as you can see, I had tons and tons of fun reading this book. It was a perfect read for Christmas!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
This was SO difficult not to read but I really wanted to save this boy for Christmas. And I managed to do that, but I had to hold myself in many a time.
In this delightful book we get 13 short stories by various authors. There is mystery, simple and harder, there is murder, stabs and poison. Most of the stories take place in the now with a few exceptions (and one didn’t work). I loved how diverse the stories were featuring characters from all colours, with various reps, with LGBT feelings or parents, and more. It is such a delight and it made me smile. I loved the various mysteries as well, two featuring my favourite setting… snowed inn, um, in. XD It was great how some of the mysteries were solved within a heartbeat while others took a tad longer. I do have to specify that normally I am not the kind of girl who likes the easily solved ones or where the character just magically knows, but it worked in this one. It was just right.
I loved how each story was presented as if it was a file in an archive of The Very Merry Murder Club.
My favourite stories would be: Scrabble and Murder, Ice and Viper, and Shoe-Dunnit (with the fab quote: Herriot laughed, bemused. “You’re an old soul, aren’t you?” “No, just autistic.”).
With the story about the dancing, I wasn’t sure how I felt about them taking the trophy/swapping it. It just seemed too far for me. I would have rather had them solve the mystery and get things fixed.
There were three stories I wasn’t sure about. The first was It’s Snow Crime. Technically a good story, however it felt like it was either part of a series or just a part of a whole book. There were things happening that had me confused, like with the villain, or how grandma was a spy apparently? It just didn’t work for me. Then there was Frostwilds which I skipped after reading a few pages. Why did I skip? Because while it had that wintery setting… it just didn’t fit at all with the tone or the mood of the book. Suddenly we are transported to a magical winter world with a monster lurking around. Then there was the one about the funhouse. Again, fun to read at times, but I don’t know because it was more fantasy/more magical and had a very inconclusive ending I just wasn’t a fan of the story.
There are also various reps included in the book and I have to applaud for the autism and the ADHD rep. Those were just perfection.
I loved the illustrations, there style was just so much fun, though I just wish there were more of them and not just one per story. Haha.
So as you can see, I had tons and tons of fun reading this book. It was a perfect read for Christmas!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
December 26, 2022
Only liked 2 stories. SHOE dunnit and the frostwilds.
February 24, 2024
I had a lovely time buddy reading this middle grade short story collection with Celine. It was a really fun one to read in the winter time.
There's a big mix for me in terms of star ratings for each story but it averaged out at 3.25 which is a fairly decent rating. I absolutely adored the story about a winter fantasy, and the one in a spooky house, I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for those authors! I also adored all of the diversity in here, it was super refreshing for white characters to be in the background for once. And the grandma's in here? I need them to be in a bad-ass spy group like yesterday. I'd read that for days! I don't read much middle grade so this was a fun change of pace!
Shoe-dunnit: 5/10
Autistic representation. A little stereotypical but it's nice to see all the same. Found the statement of ballerinas being nice hilarious. I guess the author is trying not to make kids hate ballerinas after the bitch and the murderer. A cute story with a childish-Poirot like quality where the detective finds something that the reader doesn't know about.
It's snow crime: 7/10
"you are most terrifying" I love Momo 😂
Cut the artery behind his knee?! That's a bit much!
Gotta say, it's been a while since I read middle grade but I wasnt expecting creepy stalker poison candy men. Disabled rep with the paraplegic grandmother who uses a wheelchair (adore that she's a badass spy) and single mum rep (paedeatric surgeon) as far as we can tell.
The Beast of Bedleywood: 8/10
Morals, environmental activism, a good mother. Good parts to this story! And I love the ending with the husky.
The Christmas Heist: 4/10
I wasn’t as into this story, I think I was mainly worried about the kids getting caught in their wee heist. But it was a cute ending and now I want cheesey chips!!
Cool for cats: 5/10
I’m a sucker for a cat book! I enjoyed the little mystery around who broke into the house, even if the answer was incredibly underwhelming. I feel like this needed to be much longer. What’s going to happen with Melody’s make-up skills, will Auntie’s windmill experiments on Shetland work? But I also don’t care about the two main kids 😂
It takes a thief to catch a thief: 8/10
This one was fun! I loved the sneaking around and the investigating and I love a good spy story. And again a badass granny. We need their book! They need to be in a gang! I think this is my favourite one so far. It’s still stupid like the others, but it’s just got a certain something. It was fun
The Frostwilds: 10/10
I wish this one had been a full book! The concept is fab and I feel like so much more could've been done with it. Love a good icy setting in my Christmas reads. We've got superstitions, a community coming together, magic? Everything a kids story needs!
Scrabble and Murder: 4/10
I love that the Americans are lame 🤣 the American wasn’t American! And was evil! The drips etc were interesting spots but I bet you’re annoyed at it being another one of those “don’t tell the reader” mysteries haha. Also wtf is with the justification of murder va mass murder at the end?! 🤣
This was another “don’t tell the reader” solving the mystery. I thought the way the young girl explained it was interesting but “everyone clapped” was a bit too much like a Reddit story for me. Also there’s a weird “she’s only a murderer and not a serial killer” justification which would be fine in my normal books but this is for kids!
The Ticking Funhouse: 10/10
It can’t leave us with that! This is definitely a contender for my favourite so far. A dramatic evil funhouse?! Potential death?! Riddles?! It was great! And whilst I would’ve loved more: why? Who’s the old man? Is everyone okay in the end? I think it was done really well as a short story.
Ice and Fire: 3/10
Whilst I do like what this story is preaching, it’s preaching it a little too hard. Instead of being interwoven with the story and leading the reader to the point it’s shoving it into their faces. Perhaps it works better with younger readers? But myself at that age would’ve just been mildly insulted that the author thought I wouldn’t understand nuance 😂. But the message it’s preaching is an important one and quite Dickensian so it’s fitting for Christmastime. Just not my favourite story unfortunately.
Silent Night: 4/10
Another silly one. Felt like it went from 0 - 100 really quick, needed more sleuthing before the big one I think. My favourite part again was the grandma. Honestly can these authors all just band together for a granny book?! I need it!
No Piste for the Wicked: 5/10
Not the Tesco Metro🤣
This was like a Tracy Beaker meets mystery. We got a bit of sleuthing, some friendship development, some backstory. Impressive for a short story. Not my sort of genre but I think it’d make a good full novel
The Cove(n) at Christmas: 9/10
This was a great one to end on! The suspense was built really well and I loved that we found the clues along with Malorie. The women were just the right amount of friendly mixed with suspicious and the mum was perfectly frazzled to miss any cues. Really liked it!
Average: 6.3/10 - 3.25 stars
There's a big mix for me in terms of star ratings for each story but it averaged out at 3.25 which is a fairly decent rating. I absolutely adored the story about a winter fantasy, and the one in a spooky house, I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for those authors! I also adored all of the diversity in here, it was super refreshing for white characters to be in the background for once. And the grandma's in here? I need them to be in a bad-ass spy group like yesterday. I'd read that for days! I don't read much middle grade so this was a fun change of pace!
Shoe-dunnit: 5/10
Autistic representation. A little stereotypical but it's nice to see all the same. Found the statement of ballerinas being nice hilarious. I guess the author is trying not to make kids hate ballerinas after the bitch and the murderer. A cute story with a childish-Poirot like quality where the detective finds something that the reader doesn't know about.
It's snow crime: 7/10
"you are most terrifying" I love Momo 😂
Cut the artery behind his knee?! That's a bit much!
Gotta say, it's been a while since I read middle grade but I wasnt expecting creepy stalker poison candy men. Disabled rep with the paraplegic grandmother who uses a wheelchair (adore that she's a badass spy) and single mum rep (paedeatric surgeon) as far as we can tell.
The Beast of Bedleywood: 8/10
Morals, environmental activism, a good mother. Good parts to this story! And I love the ending with the husky.
The Christmas Heist: 4/10
I wasn’t as into this story, I think I was mainly worried about the kids getting caught in their wee heist. But it was a cute ending and now I want cheesey chips!!
Cool for cats: 5/10
I’m a sucker for a cat book! I enjoyed the little mystery around who broke into the house, even if the answer was incredibly underwhelming. I feel like this needed to be much longer. What’s going to happen with Melody’s make-up skills, will Auntie’s windmill experiments on Shetland work? But I also don’t care about the two main kids 😂
It takes a thief to catch a thief: 8/10
This one was fun! I loved the sneaking around and the investigating and I love a good spy story. And again a badass granny. We need their book! They need to be in a gang! I think this is my favourite one so far. It’s still stupid like the others, but it’s just got a certain something. It was fun
The Frostwilds: 10/10
I wish this one had been a full book! The concept is fab and I feel like so much more could've been done with it. Love a good icy setting in my Christmas reads. We've got superstitions, a community coming together, magic? Everything a kids story needs!
Scrabble and Murder: 4/10
I love that the Americans are lame 🤣 the American wasn’t American! And was evil! The drips etc were interesting spots but I bet you’re annoyed at it being another one of those “don’t tell the reader” mysteries haha. Also wtf is with the justification of murder va mass murder at the end?! 🤣
This was another “don’t tell the reader” solving the mystery. I thought the way the young girl explained it was interesting but “everyone clapped” was a bit too much like a Reddit story for me. Also there’s a weird “she’s only a murderer and not a serial killer” justification which would be fine in my normal books but this is for kids!
The Ticking Funhouse: 10/10
It can’t leave us with that! This is definitely a contender for my favourite so far. A dramatic evil funhouse?! Potential death?! Riddles?! It was great! And whilst I would’ve loved more: why? Who’s the old man? Is everyone okay in the end? I think it was done really well as a short story.
Ice and Fire: 3/10
Whilst I do like what this story is preaching, it’s preaching it a little too hard. Instead of being interwoven with the story and leading the reader to the point it’s shoving it into their faces. Perhaps it works better with younger readers? But myself at that age would’ve just been mildly insulted that the author thought I wouldn’t understand nuance 😂. But the message it’s preaching is an important one and quite Dickensian so it’s fitting for Christmastime. Just not my favourite story unfortunately.
Silent Night: 4/10
Another silly one. Felt like it went from 0 - 100 really quick, needed more sleuthing before the big one I think. My favourite part again was the grandma. Honestly can these authors all just band together for a granny book?! I need it!
No Piste for the Wicked: 5/10
Not the Tesco Metro🤣
This was like a Tracy Beaker meets mystery. We got a bit of sleuthing, some friendship development, some backstory. Impressive for a short story. Not my sort of genre but I think it’d make a good full novel
The Cove(n) at Christmas: 9/10
This was a great one to end on! The suspense was built really well and I loved that we found the clues along with Malorie. The women were just the right amount of friendly mixed with suspicious and the mum was perfectly frazzled to miss any cues. Really liked it!
Average: 6.3/10 - 3.25 stars
December 13, 2023
Opowiadania były lepsze i gorsze. Najbardziej podobały mi się "Scrabble i morderstwo" oraz "Cicha noc".
December 23, 2023
Some stories were okay but the majority felt poorly written. Middle-graders can handle more complex mysteries.
December 9, 2022
Maybe a 3.75
Shoe-Dunnit - 4/5
It's Snow Crime - 2/5
The Beast of Bedleywood - 3.5/5
The Christmas Heist - 2/5
Cool for Cats - 5/5
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief - 2.5/5
The Frostwilds - 5/5
Scrabble and Murder - 3/5
The Ticking Funhouse - 4.5/5
Ice and Fire - 5/5
Silent Night - 2/5
No Piste for the Wicked - 2/5
The Cove(n) at Christmas- 5/5
Shoe-Dunnit - 4/5
It's Snow Crime - 2/5
The Beast of Bedleywood - 3.5/5
The Christmas Heist - 2/5
Cool for Cats - 5/5
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief - 2.5/5
The Frostwilds - 5/5
Scrabble and Murder - 3/5
The Ticking Funhouse - 4.5/5
Ice and Fire - 5/5
Silent Night - 2/5
No Piste for the Wicked - 2/5
The Cove(n) at Christmas- 5/5
Read
January 17, 2023I think my fave stories were by Elle McNicoll, Benjamin Dean and Dominique Valente.
January 30, 2022
Shoe-dunnit- 4.5/5.
It's snow crime- 2/5.
The Beast of Bedleywood- 4/5
Christmas Heist- 3.5/5.
Cool for cats- 3/5.
It takes a thief to catch a thief- 4/5.
The Frostwilds- 4/5.
Scrabble and murder- 4/5.
The ticking funhouse- 4.5/5.
Ice and fire- 4.5/5.
Silent night- 3.5/5.
No piste for the wicked- 4/5
The cove(n) at Christmas- 3.5/5.
I like the idea of Christmas short mystery stories, but how this was portrayed was not my favourite. I would've loved this a year ago, but my reading taste has changed and found most of these stories quite cringe and cheesy. I found myself counting down the pages and hoping to finish it which is not a great reading experience and I wish I didn't spend my time on it. Although apart from the cons, there were some stories which were great fun.
It's snow crime- 2/5.
The Beast of Bedleywood- 4/5
Christmas Heist- 3.5/5.
Cool for cats- 3/5.
It takes a thief to catch a thief- 4/5.
The Frostwilds- 4/5.
Scrabble and murder- 4/5.
The ticking funhouse- 4.5/5.
Ice and fire- 4.5/5.
Silent night- 3.5/5.
No piste for the wicked- 4/5
The cove(n) at Christmas- 3.5/5.
I like the idea of Christmas short mystery stories, but how this was portrayed was not my favourite. I would've loved this a year ago, but my reading taste has changed and found most of these stories quite cringe and cheesy. I found myself counting down the pages and hoping to finish it which is not a great reading experience and I wish I didn't spend my time on it. Although apart from the cons, there were some stories which were great fun.
December 14, 2021
I was really looking forward to reading this and was expecting some great Christmas mysteries.
Sadly this fell short on both mystery and Christmas spirit.Some of these stories didn't feel like.mysteries at all and a lot of them had little or no relevance to Christmas.
Many of the stories felt super rushed too.
Elle Mcnicoll's story was great,as it was the first that gave me high hopes the rest of the collection really failed to live up to.
Sadly this fell short on both mystery and Christmas spirit.Some of these stories didn't feel like.mysteries at all and a lot of them had little or no relevance to Christmas.
Many of the stories felt super rushed too.
Elle Mcnicoll's story was great,as it was the first that gave me high hopes the rest of the collection really failed to live up to.
April 11, 2022
This is a disappointing, below-average mix of stories.
It started off well with Shoe-dunnit (4 stars), went downhill rapidly (It’s snow crime and Beast of Bedleywood 2 1/2 stars), and lost total interest at The Christmas heist (1 star for pathetic characters and plot).
I may or may not persevere with the rest of the stories (most likely not, unless I find it for free on audio so that it wastes as little of my time as possible).
It started off well with Shoe-dunnit (4 stars), went downhill rapidly (It’s snow crime and Beast of Bedleywood 2 1/2 stars), and lost total interest at The Christmas heist (1 star for pathetic characters and plot).
I may or may not persevere with the rest of the stories (most likely not, unless I find it for free on audio so that it wastes as little of my time as possible).
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