The Very Merry Murder Club: A wintery collection of new mystery fiction for children edited by Serena Patel and Robin Stevens for 2021. The perfect Christmas gift!

Unable to comment brought as gift

Bought for my granddaughter she loves it

Daughter enjoyed

A collection of thirteen short mystery stories edited by Robin Stevens and Serena Patel which showcase some of the work of the new wave of children's authors in the 8-12 age group. There is a lot to like here. A refreshing lack of celebrity authors, some diverse names which mean that inclusion and diversity are strong drivers in the make up of these stories and some of the stories were superb. It's a good way for a child to dip into work by authors they may not be familiar with and get a sense of whether they would like to read more work by them. I'm not a huge fan of short story collections, particularly when they are written by more than one author. I like my stories to develop over the length of a book so this didn't work for me personally.

The Very Merry Murder Club is an outstanding anthology of middle grade crime stories by a wonderful range of authors.Diversity has clearly been a priority when selecting authors for this book, and it is very much a strength of the finished piece. It's definitely not at the cost of quality though. Every single one of these authors is there on their own merit and they have all produced really excellent stories. For every bigot and racist who's ever said "Well, they should write their own books then!" here is proof that they can and do. It's absolutely a joy to see the wealth of diverse talent we currently have working in middle grade fiction showcased like this.There are characters in here from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds, a couple of characters who are neuro-diverse, a character with a prosthetic leg, one with two dads, a kid from a foster home. The range of representation is really a marvel. And although it has clearly been thought through, and a key aim of the anthology, it all feels natural and not forced. Each character has earned their place in these stories and belongs there. I'm sure it'll have a positive impact on a lot of children who might see elements of themselves or their family or their classmates and friends within the pages of this book.There is also a great range of story types, though all bear the crime tag. Benjamin Dean gives us a really haunting tale of horror in The Ticking Funhouse. Dominique Valente takes us to a fantasy world trapped in winter and haunted by a grim beast in The Frostwilds. In Ice and Fire, Joanna Williams gives us a historical short story, set amid the frost fairs of London in 1776, while Maisie Chan gives us an incredible comic piece about living with a cat-burglar mother who gets stolen in It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief, and Abiola Bello writes a fun heist story featuring a dance troupe trying to steal a trophy they feel rightly belongs to them, The Christmas Heist.Despite the title, one thing this anthology is light on is actual murders. There are only four stories out of the thirteen that deal with actual murders. Elle McNicoll opens the anthology really strongly with Shoe-Dunnit, as an autistic young detective puts her skills to use solving the murder of a ballerina in a Scottish hotel. Nizrana Farook creates some absolutely, brilliantly awful hotel managers in Scrabble and Murder. E. L. Norry gives us a death on a ski slope to solve in the school-trip based mystery, No Piste for the Wicked and Sharna Jackson closes the anthology with a really intriguing mystery, The Cove(n) at Christmas.But as well as murder, we have sabotage to stop in Annabelle Sami's The Beast of Bedleywood, a villainous mastermind trying to ruin Christmas in It's Snow Crime by Roopa Farooki, Patrice Lawrence's Cool for Cats gives us a very interesting little puzzle in a house where the owner has gone away and Serena Patel's Silent Night is a middle grade mystery heavily influenced by Hitchcock's Rear Window.There's something here for every one, a brilliant range of stories in different styles with different kinds of representation, and so, so many mysteries to solve!

Mostly very enjoyable, though there was one story that didn’t have a satisfying ending. Otherwise, excellent Christmassy crime fiction.

Having finished my class read just short of October half term, I found myself torn between wanting to start my new choice of book, and leaving a big gap over the break; not reading to my class at all; or sharing a short story with them. Sadly, there is currently little choice for upper KS2 aged children with regards to high quality short stories, and while some of the picture books I have are brilliant, I had very little to offer them in the way of what they might consider to be a proper story.Had I had this new title to hand, my only dilemma would’ve been which story to choose, because here is a brilliant selection of stories perfect for sharing and each short enough to read over two or three sessions. While marketed primarily as a Christmas book, the selection of tales here from a variety of well-known authors is one that younger readers will be able to enjoy all year round, time and time again, and is one that is destined to become a classic .Opening with an offering by Elle McNicoll, bearing all of the trademarks of her writing that you might expect, the stories here are all very different from one another in their settings, times and crimes, with not every story being based around a murder. For those children who are more sensitive and perhaps find the details within titles such as the High-Rise Mystery or Murder Most Unladylike series a little too graphic, the murders here are less gruesome and are much less likely to cause upset, making this a great gateway book to those and similar titles.As well as being crammed full of great stories, the book is very inclusive in the characters portrayed here, which – although as it should be – is very pleasing to see, and will thrill many readers who are able to see themselves or their friends and families reflected within its pages. Accompanying all of the stories are the wonderful illustrations of Harry Woodgate, which enhance the book greatly and which together with this being a hardback will all go towards making this a great gift not just for the festive season, but for any end/ beginning of the year birthdays too.I very much enjoyed reading this. Many of the the authors are ones whose writing I’ve previously enjoyed, but one or two were new to me and I now have some of their titles added onto my TBB list; I would like to think that younger readers will also check out some of the longer reads from the writers of their favourites here.Huge, huge thanks go to publisher Farshore Books and Net Galley for my read of this title which is on sale now. A very festive 5 out of 5 stars.

My grand daughter loves this set of books