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Arsenic for TeaRobin Stevens
Arsenic for Tea
by Robin Stevens
Daisy's birthday weekend at home is ruined when a guest is poisoned and the bridge floods, leaving the murderer inside the house.
A story about children, adventurous and wry in tone. We would put it with children of 9–12, and at a reading age of about 10 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- A character dies
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Part of a series
This is book 2 of the Murder Most Unladylike series, so there is more to read if it goes down well — which is worth a great deal with a reluctant reader.
Our take on this book
Daisy Wells's birthday weekend at her family's grand country house turns to disaster when a guest is poisoned at tea and the bridge is washed out by a storm, trapping everyone — including the murderer — inside, while Daisy and her friend Hazel investigate a case that reaches uncomfortably close to Daisy's own family. Robin Stevens writes a proper golden-age murder mystery for children, complete with suspects, alibis and a closed-house setup, narrated by the watchful, wry Hazel, whose outsider's eye on a very English household is part of the pleasure. There is a death, of course, handled cleverly rather than gruesomely, so it suits a reader who enjoys a real whodunit with a bit of edge. For a nine- to twelve-year-old it is a smart, satisfying puzzle with a warm central friendship, and part of a series that turns young readers into devoted detectives.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Murder Most UnladylikeRobin Stevens
High-Rise MysterySharna Jackson
Small Change for StuartLissa Evans
StormbreakerAnthony Horowitz
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.