4.18 AVERAGE


Another great outing for the detecting duo, despite being expressly forbidden to get involved! Daisy and Hazel, with a little bit of help from a new friend, prove themselves the best detectives on the Orient Express! Jam packed with suspicious characters, delicious food and topped off with a mysterious and macabre murder.
Steven's tribute to the Agatha Christie classic (which I'm embarrassed to admit I've never read) is an intelligent and enjoyable novel.
adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
catziwwah's profile picture

catziwwah's review


Not entirely sure, I think the new Skandar book came out and then I forgot about this one. It was good though.
kayceereads's profile picture

kayceereads's review

4.0

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

First read of 2022! I had a great time as always with Hazel and Daisy and their sleuthing. This book follows our dynamic detective duo as they ride on the Orient Express (y'all see where this is going don't ya?) to tour Europe with Hazel's dad, Mr. Wong during the summer and Daisy is invited along mostly to avoid something that is a effect from the last book so I don't want to actually state that here.

Mr. Wong does not want Hazel or Daisy to do any deducting while they are on their tour, but, of course, there is a murder on the train and our two gals are the ones that need to solve it. It had quite a bit of commentary on what the world was like in the 1930s which I appreciated and I like how Stevens is making the xenophobia and racism that Hazel faces more real with every subsequent book.

This is obviously an homage to "Murder of the Orient Express" and I enjoyed that.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

may_100's review

4.0
adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

a_blue_stocking's review

4.25
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
lilyhunt's profile picture

lilyhunt's review

4.5
adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

hannahbook's review

5.0

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

First Class Murder is definitely one of the most complicated murders in the series. Everything seems impossible – until the very end when Daisy and Hazel think about the case a bit differently, and bring the criminal to justice. As this book had two mysteries to solve, (the murder and the spy), this made it eerily resemblant to Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ (both books/film are amazing in their own rights, I just noticed some similarities when reading First Class Murder).

Throughout the book, the Detective Society are very limited in their detecting, as all around them are adults who are trying to steer them away from solving the case. But with the addition of one half of the Junior Pinkertons (Alexander Arcady), the Detective Society power through their first locked-room mystery.

Unlike the previous two books in this series (Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic for Tea), I genuinely had no idea who the murderer was until Daisy and Hazel worked it out. I loved it how nothing added up with the suspects – nothing quite fit into the puzzle of who the murderer was until suddenly, the girls thought of the mystery a different way and everything slotted into place. This was nice though, as when reading the previous two books in this seres, I do tend to try and mentally urge Daisy and Hazel to think the way that I am about the case!

I did have to read First Class Murder several times before I understood how the murder happened, as this is a very complex case. As this book was set in a completely new setting for both Daisy and Hazel, this heightened the confusion around the case. Because Daisy knew Fallingford and both girls knew Deepdean, this helped with their investigation as they knew how best to sneak around, detecting without being found. But as they were more exposed on the Orient Express (they had the sleeping car and the dining car to detect in), this made it questionable if they would solve the mystery before Dr. Sandwich convicted someone – whether they were guilty or not. Of course, I never underestimated the Detective Society’s abilities, but this case was very touch-and-go in terms of convicting the guilty person.

I highly recommend this book to any mystery-lovers or anyone who has enjoyed Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic for Tea. Each book in this series is a completely different mystery, yet similarities run through each book, which makes Murder Most Unladylike a very enjoyable series to read.

This series is very entertaining. A light easy read which is a nice relief from some of the more depressing books I'm reading.