Another great addition to this series from Robin Stevens. one of my go to recommendations for young readers interested in both historical fiction and mystery.

I have read the rest of this series and enjoyed it for the most part, but this one has turned me off. I was halfway through when I realized that I am so tired of the girls being mean to each other. Hazel and Daisy are supposed to be friends, but Daisy is consistently mean, condescending, and cruel to Hazel. It seems like every book in this series starts off with the characters needing to grow and change, which they do during the story. But then the next installation begins and we are right back to where we started in the previous books. This series is very frustrating because we spend most of our time in pursuit of clues that are hearsay. The actual clues just seem to fall out of nowhere and our heroines solve the mystery based on luck. I hate to write a bad review of any book, but I am so frustrated by these characters, I had to voice my opinion.

Jolly Foul Play is a middle grade novel written by Robin Stevens. It is the fourth Wells & Wong Mystery that features Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, the intrepid schoolgirl sleuths. I was very excited about the opportunity to read this book with my oldest daughter because I had a feeling she would like it.

Hazel and Daisy are back at Deepdean for another year, and there have been a lot of changes. Elizabeth, the new Head Girl, is very cruel to the younger girls. She and her five friends rule the school, and there are severe repercussions for the most minor of infractions. On Bonfire Night, Elizabeth is found dead on the playing field. The Headmistress insists it was an accident, but Hazel and Daisy are convinced that it is murder- especially after someone begins releasing secrets about the girls at the school. It is time for the Detective Society to reconvene and solve their fourth murder!

This was an absolutely brilliant book. It takes place at an English boarding school in the 1930s, so there’s all sorts of charming slang and rah rah schoolgirl camaraderie. On that note, there is some trouble with Hazel and Daisy’s friendship, and modern readers will recognize that some issues are timeless, and similar misunderstandings still happen today. The high emotions are portrayed so poignantly, with great care and empathy.

The mystery was extremely well done. Hazel and Daisy are methodical sleuths, and employ a variety of methods to gather clues and information. They use logic and reason to eliminate suspects, and they work together to share theories. As they get closer to the truth, the situation escalates, which makes for a thrilling conclusion.

I would absolutely recommend Jolly Foul Play to middle grade readers. I would suggest starting with the first book in the series, but if you must read this book first, there are allusions to earlier cases, but no spoilers. My oldest daughter, who is almost 11, loved this book. I have some UK editions of other books in the series, and she devoured them. She loves reading, but hasn’t always shown an interest in novels, so it’s a pretty big deal that she showed such an interest in this series. We’re certainly looking forward to reading more of Stevens’ books in the future!


I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When Head Girl Elizabeth dies of injuries after the school's Guy Fawkes bonfire, Daisy and Hazel suspect that she was murdered. The position of the rake wasn't right, but this doesn't stop the head gardener from being fired. When pages from a notebook Elizabeth kept of everyone's secrets keep cropping up, the Detective Society realizes they have their motive. The five prefects are also suspects, and the girls work on narrowing them down. When Hazel writes to Daisy's cousin Alexander and shares details of the investigations with him (in order to get his help), Daisy is angry and stops speaking to her, which makes investigating difficult. Younger student Binnie goes missing, and it is feared that the murderer has taken her. With time running out, Hazel and Daisy make up, double up on investigating, and figure out who the murderer is before it's too late.

Strengths: Anyone who is a fan of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers or British boarding school stories will adore this series. The fact that there are actual murders at the school make it easier to get these into the hands of students who might not want to read about England in the 1930s. The mean girl exploits, however, as well as the investigative techniques, make this a series that I wish more of my students would read. The covers are also brilliant.
Weaknesses: There is a romance between two of the girls that is judged more harshly than I think it would have been at the time. After all, in the wake of WWI, there were a lot of highly educated women who lived with female partners, and it was just kind of accepted. It just doesn't seem historically accurate that students would have cared about it.
What I really think: Definitely purchase these for my library. They aren't huge circulators, but I can see them being around for a long time.

An entertaining homage to (or possibly, arguably, adaptation of) Sherlock. Boarding school girls Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong investigate the latest murder at Deepdean School for Girls while simultaneously grappling with the idea that their club-of-two detectives may well need to be expandaed (even if Hazel has to drag Daisy screaming to that revelation). This appears to be a re-release of the 2016 novel by the same name and author, presumably owing to a chance in publishers.