Murder Most Unladylike

Murder Most Unladylike

UK edition
Author	Robin Stevens
Cover artist	Nina Tara
Language	English
Genre	Mystery fiction, Children's fiction
Publisher	Puffin Books
Publication date	5 June 2014
Publication place	United Kingdom
Pages	352
Followed by	Arsenic for Tea

Murder Most Unladylike is a 2014 children's mystery novel by British-American author Robin Stevens. It follows two schoolgirls in 1930s England solving their first murder mystery and is the first book in the 'Murder Most Unladylike' series.

The story is written in the style of a casebook and follows two fictional boarding schoolgirl detectives, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, as they try to find the murderer of their science teacher. The book has been nominated for several awards, including the Carnegie Medal. In the US, the book was published under the name Murder is Bad Manners.

Plot

The two principal characters, Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells are students at Deepdean School for Girls. They are the founding members of the Wells and Wong Detective Society and its only members for that case. Daisy is the president of the Detective Society and Hazel is its secretary and vice president. The book begins with Hazel recounting her discovery of the body of Miss Bell, the Science mistress, in the gymnasium on Monday 29th October 1934. Both Hazel and Daisy stayed back in a classroom after societies, so that Daisy could finish the book she was reading, The Man in the Queue. While waiting, Hazel realises that she has left her pullover in the gymnasium, so she hurries to collect it. There, she stumbles upon the corpse of Miss Bell, who has seemingly fallen from the balcony. However, when Hazel returns with Daisy and the prefect Virginia Overton, the body is gone. Thus, only Daisy believes that Hazel saw Miss Bell's dead body, and they are both punished for lying. The absence of the body means that the Detective Society believe they have discovered their first murder case.

Daisy and Hazel begin their detective work at Prayers the next morning. The other students notice the absence of Miss Bell, and are suspicious as she is known for her punctuality. The excitement is furthered when Miss Griffin, the headmistress, doesn't mention Miss Bell's absence following her sermon. The third form's second hour Science is covered by Mademoiselle Renauld (Mamzelle), who is Deepdean's French mistress. The class ask her if she knows where Miss Bell is, however she is unable to answer.

At bunbreak, Daisy and Hazel listen to gossip to gather information for their investigation. Daisy discovers from talking to Henrietta Trilling (King Henry), who is the Head Girl, that Miss Bell resigned. She is told that their was a resignation letter on Miss Griffin's desk and that King Henry had been allowed to read it. This gives the detectives evidence that Miss Bell must've been murdered by someone who knew her handwriting well enough to forge such a letter, and with enough authority to place it on Miss Griffin's desk.

That evening, the pair have a Detective Society meeting in the airing cupboard, where they discuss the possible suspects for the murder. Miss Parker is suspected with the motive of jealously, as Miss Bell had jilted her for Mr Reid, the Music and Art master (known by the students as The One). Hazel also suggests that Miss Hopkins, the Games mistress, could've committed the murder, as Mr Reid had jilted Miss Bell for her. Daisy says that the motive is too weak and that it cannot be possible as Miss Hopkins is "pukka", as well as stating that she had the alibi of coaching the school's hockey team. Daisy's obsession gives the reader the first idea that she may be sapphic. Miss Lappet, the History and Latin mistress, and Miss Tennyson, the English mistress, are both suspected, as they, with Miss Bell, were candidates for the Deputy Headmistress role. Mamzelle and Mr Maclean, the Reverend, are both added to the suspect list as they both had an opportunity to commit the crime, however neither of them are thought to have a motive.

As the time since Miss Bell's disappearance extends, the rumours of her whereabouts spread between the students become more outlandish. Many students suspect her of being involved with a crime ring or secret organisation.

More suspicion is thrown onto Miss Parker when Daisy asks her if she had seen a fountain pen she had lost on Monday evening, but Miss Parker claims she can't have seen it as she left school immediately at the end of the day. Kitty Freebody, a friend of Daisy and Hazel, tells them that she's a "filthy liar" as she had seen Miss Parker looking angry after societies had ended.

Mamzelle is quickly ruled out from having any involvement in the murder, as Sophie Croke-Finchley, another third former, had heard her practising her French in a music practice room at the time the murder must've taken place. Similarly, Mr Maclean is ruled out as his confirmation training with fourth form had run over into the time the crime occurred.

On Wednesday morning, third form have Dance, so Daisy and Hazel are in the Gym for the first time since they discovered Miss Bell's body. While dancing, Hazel notices a dark spot on the floor where Miss Bell fell, causing her to become distracted and fall over, bringing Rebecca Martineau (Beanie) down with her and injuring her ankle. Hazel's suspicions are raised when Miss Hopkins responds with care, rather than just shouting at them. She then allows Daisy to take Hazel to San (the school sanatorium), where she gets her ankle wrapped by Nurse Minn (Minny). When they get there, they hear King Henry being treated by Minny for a cut foot, saying that she had stood on a stray piece of glass. Minny says that Jones, the handyman, should've cleared it up, and asks what Jones had said caused the glass to be broken. King Henry says that he believes burglars broke in on Tuesday evening but didn't steal anything, and in the process broke the windows in the New Wing corridor. Daisy leaves Hazel to be treated alone to search for Jones to interview him about the damage.

By the time Daisy has spoken to Jones, he has realised that as nothing was stolen, his burglary theory is unlikely and that mischievous students are likely to blame. He then says that Miss Griffin had told him not to worry about the damage caused, but that he can get some comfort from the fact that blood on the windows means that the vandal got punished. Daisy realises that this could be linked to the murder, as the perpetrator can't have gone to San to get their injury bandaged, otherwise Minny would've mentioned the coincidence. Her and Hazel theorise the damage could've been caused when the murderer moved Miss Bell's body.

On Thursday morning in Prayers, Miss Griffin finally confirms that Miss Bell resigned from her post as Science mistress, and scolds the girls for their gossip surrounding her absence. The detectives witness Miss Parker losing her temper with Kitty and Beanie who were whispering to each other as they left Prayers, adding to their suspicion towards her.

They also notice suspicious behaviour from Miss Tennyson. While she was usually "a drip", the third form class noticed that she was especially weepy. While Daisy read "Elegy in a Country Churchyard", Miss Tennyson kept flinching at every mention of death and gravestones. Daisy then asks her if she knows anything about where Miss Bell might've gone, saying she wanted to write to her to ask her a question. Miss Tennyson turns pale, and then threatens to give Daisy a detention if she continues her off-topic discussion. This is out-of-character for her, as the class have never heard her issue such a threat before.

That afternoon, the third formers have Games, where they are playing hockey. While playing in defence, Hazel and Lavinia Temple, get into an altercation, causing Hazel to be sent back inside as a punishment for her unladylike behaviour. Daisy follows her inside, having lied to Miss Hopkins about having "the curse". In the changing room, they have a Detective Society meeting, discussing the behaviour of their suspects that morning. Daisy reveals she has a plan to discover the place where Miss Bell's body was kept between Monday and Tuesday evening, but refuses to disclose it to Hazel.

At afternoon tea, Daisy spends it with fifth former, Alice Murgatroyd, which is unusual, as the students tend to remain with their own form. When she returns to where the third formers are sat, she tells Kitty that she wants to have a midnight feast that night, where it passes on to Beanie, Hazel and Lavinia, who are their other dormmates.

At the midnight feast, Daisy suggests they use the Ouija board they had from a previous term. During this, the counter spells out "HELP. MURDER.". Kitty asks who is telling them this, with the response being "MISS BELL".

At breakfast the next morning, while Kitty is telling other people about their Ouija board experience, Daisy asks Clementine Delacroix, another third former, about the hockey team's preparation for their match at the weekend. She replies that Miss Hopkins hadn't been helpful as she has left the Monday evening tactics sessions early, leaving a prefect to run the meeting. Daisy is upset by the discovery that Miss Hopkins no longer has an alibi, causing Daisy and Hazel to have an argument. Daisy says she will follow Miss Tennyson throughout the day, while Hazel could follow Miss Hopkins, The One, Miss Lappet and Miss Parker.

By the end of Prayers, the news of the séance has spread across the school, and all of the students are aware of the possibility that Miss Bell was murdered.

When following Miss Hopkins, Hazel noticed her and The One turning red when they saw each other in the corridor. She tries to tell Daisy, but she acts uninterested and tells Hazel that she heard Miss Tennyson crying in the mistress' lavatories.

At bunbreak, Hazel sits on the steps of The One's office to listen to a conversation between him and Miss Parker. She asks him if he knows anything about where Miss Bell might've gone, but it results in an argument, which makes it sound like Miss Parker is blackmailing him. As Miss Parker storms out, she bumps into Miss Hopkins, who is going into The One's office. This leads to Hazel theorising that The One and Miss Hopkins could have worked together on the murder.

Daisy is late to History after bunbreak, where a slightly drunk Miss Lappet scolds her for her tardiness. Daisy asks her if she had collected lost property on Monday evening, as she has lost a "special pen". Miss Lappet reveals that it was Miss Bell who was in charge that night, and that she had been in Miss Griffin's office discussing "important matters". When pressed, she says that she was there the entire evening.

During their Music lesson, The One is unable to maintain a tune, and while leaving for lunch, Beanie speculates that he is mourning Miss Bell. Miss Lappet hears this, and snaps at her, threatening detention to the entire third form if she hears anymore gossip from them.

Following this, Miss Tennyson has also died. A note was beside her corpse, stating that the murderer was sorry, but she knew she had to do it. Daisy and Hazel, however, are not. They work tirelessly to piece the clues together and solve the mystery.

Towards the end of the book, Hazel and Daisy come across an old notebook, which turns out to be the diary of another character Verity Abraham, the girl who was rumoured in the story to have committed suicide by jumping off the Gym balcony the term before Hazel arrived. The diary serves as evidence that Miss Griffin, the headmistress has spoken to her a few weeks ago and informed her that she was Verity's true mother and that Mr. and Mrs. Abraham had adopted her. Miss Griffin had become an unmarried mother, which at the time was not considered normal and would have affected her chances of becoming headmistress. Verity forbids this fact, but Miss Griffin then provides her with evidence of her birth and the adoption, too. Then, she asks Verity to join her as her daughter, but Verity denies it and says Mr. and Mrs. Abraham are her parents. Afterwards, Verity had received a note from Miss Griffin, which was found in the diary. Then, after she met Miss Griffin, she disappeared, which was when Verity was said to have committed suicide. Following this, there is a note proving who the murderer is at the end, written by Miss Bell. Miss Griffin would have disposed of it if not for Miss Bell hiding it.

As there are police at the scene, they hand the diary over, the policeman understands everything and holds a denouement (the final part of the book, unveiling the murderer) and they finally arrest the murderer.

Reception

In its review, The Oxford Times praised Stevens for her "sense of place ... attention to detail, in-depth characters, authentic documents of events and, most importantly, absorbing plot". The website Crime Review called Murder Most Unladylike "an assured and capable debut",. Children's author Jo Cotterill called it "extremely well plotted", but criticized the pacing of the story. The education website Teachwire said the book is "something that is simultaneously recognisable and totally original".

It also won a 2015 Waterstones Children's Book Prize in the 5-12 Fiction category.

Sequel and series

A sequel, Arsenic For Tea, was published seven months after Murder Most Unladylike. Since the first Murder Most Unladylike book, there have been ten subsequent books, along with six extra mini-books. In 2022, a new series, Ministry of Unladylike Activity was released, featuring characters related to those in the Murder Most Unladylike series. A casebook was also released with the tips and tricks on how to start your own detective society and much more, going by the name of Cream Buns and Crime.

• Murder Most Unladylike (2014)
• Arsenic For Tea (2015)
• First Class Murder (2015)
• Jolly Foul Play (2016)
• Mistletoe and Murder (2016)
• A Spoonful of Murder (2018)
• Death in the Spotlight (2018)
• Top Marks for Murder (2019)
• Death Sets Sail (2020)
• Once Upon A Crime (2021)

Extras:

• The Case Of The Deepdean Vampire (2016)
• The Case Of The Blue Violet (2016)
• The Case Of The Missing Treasure (2019)
• The Case Of The Drowned Pearl (2020)
• The Case Of Lavinia's Missing Tie (2016)
• Cream Buns and Crime (2017)