Reviews with content warning for Racism - Murder Is Bad Manners

This series of books was in my school library before I was and I often wondered at a series about murder for tweens. Finally, I got around to listening to it, and I feel Stevens has a real knack for presenting a murder mystery as a tutorial for readers new to the genre. Some of the themes would appear to be inappropriate for young readers (infidelity, unmarried teacher having a baby - around WWI, adoption of said baby, teen suicide, and of course murder) but they are handled simply and without unnecessarily gory details. At present, one of my more mature 11yo students is reading this, on the understanding that she will return it if anything is too confronting. I'm curious as to what she will think.

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elysianbud's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-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

2.0

Main character Hazel is enjoyable and sweet, overall mystery plot is enjoyable. Twist was unexpected.

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ailsaod's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book was a MASSIVE disappointment! Last year I read the last entry to this series (Death Sets Sail) and I enjoyed it massively so when I saw book 1 in a charity shop I was excited. Aside from Death Sets sail having a head start on being good by being heavily based on Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile it was a very cosy book to read with a close friendship at its core. None of that is here in this book and I found it unpleasant. The two main characters embody only their worst traits - Hazel is passive and full of self-loathing and Daisy is arrogant and mean - with none of the positives I remembered from the last book. Daisy frequently bullies Hazel ruthlessly - she locks Hazel in her own suitcase as a prank at one point which may make sense for the setting but makes her supremely unlikable! I do not plan on continuing the series.

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bookwyrmknits's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

This is a fun romp of a middle grade detective story, and it was an enjoyable ride. I enjoyed seeing where Robin Stevens took her two girl detectives on this adventure. I was pleased that Hazel, one of the two main characters in this novel (our narrator, no less), was from Hong Kong, and yet I was also annoyed at the casual racism peppered in here and there throughout the book. It was not in a large quantity of the book, it is probably historically accurate (the book is set in the 1930's), and Hazel does complain to herself about it to indicate to the reader that it's not okay behavior, but I still didn't like that part.

Daisy, the other main character, was also hard to like at times. Sometimes I enjoyed her character a lot, and other times she was a bully and I wanted nothing to do with her. I'm very torn on my opinion of Daisy, and she's probably the reason I won't be continuing with the series.

Overall, though, this is a fun read, with a twisty enough mystery that readers (especially in the target age range) can have fun with the reveals.

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hannahs_library_'s review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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