So good even if I keep conflating this with the other a good girls guide bc they’re crazy good but this was a little worse

I was so excited for this cute looking nod to one of the queens of mystery! I was ready for twists and turns and a chance to use my little grey cells. Instead, at least a handful of those cells are now dead from reading this novel.

Really enjoyed this one, it was a cute easy read! It was a cute YA suspense/thriller. I would definitely recommend this one to my friends. It had a good setting, good storyline, and was overall a really enjoyable YA thriller.

A clever and fast-paced mystery/thriller that hearkens back to Agatha Christie and other Golden Age mystery authors.

All the teens want to be Agatha Christie. But in this town, when there is a death at a party, it gets to be true for one misfit. A teen detective novel for the rest of us.

This was such a fun, twisty, immersive mystery—I love the idea of unlikely friends coming together to solve the case, and the Veronica Mars comp is spot on. Can't wait for more from these two!

A well-crafted ode to Agatha Christie novels, this book delivers a satisfying teen murder mystery set against a richly developed coastal town setting.

The Agathas is a wonderful homage to the classic Agatha Christie mystery novels, only this time set in a California high school with two teenagers as the detectives. This is a interesting novel for young adults and I would describe it in the same vein as Karen McManus and Maureen Johnson mysteries.

There are a number of agatha Christie quotes that open each chapter and also gives the reader an idea of where the plot is going. All in all, a fun and snappy read, perfect for teen detectives everywhere. Thank you to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel.

I enjoyed this mystery romance YA novel. The plot twists and keeps you guessing and the characters were believable and realistic. I am looking forward to the next book in the series and I think this is a definite must purchase for my students.

Thank you for the advanced copy.

Alice and iris are an unlikely duo. One is a rich girl who disappeared for a little while, and no one knows why. Iris is poor and desperately seeking a new life for her and her mom. One far away from their secrets.

Alice loved Steve, until she found out he was with her best friend Brooke. A few months later, Brooke ends up dead. And Steve is the main suspect.

Alice and iris start to piece together the night of Brookes death with some unlikely help.

This book is so good. I could not put it down.

Teen mysteries are precarious, either making the path easy for the sleuth or the methods nonsensical. "The Agathas' manages the tough feat building a mystery for the protagonists to solve with real life research, danger, cunning, and good-old-fashioned stupid luck (insert Professor McGonagall face). I was impressed by the pacing, the red-herrings, the delicate sprinkling of clues, and truly not sugarcoating the reality that someone died. As the friendship between Alice and Iris grew, their dynamic drove the story forward. I look forward to reading the second in this series. Highly recommended for mystery readers, suggested Grades 10+.

This was an interesting mystery in many ways. I enjoyed the story a lot and feel that it was a split YA mystery. The one unlikely friendship between Iris and Alice was fun to watch develop throughout the story while they were sleuthing and making questionable decisions while doing so.

Oh I loved this book! Two teenage girls who are very different team up to solve the murder of a classmate. I loved Iris and Alice and their flaws. I really enjoyed all the supporting characters as well. I can’t wait for more in this series!

So wonderful to see Glasgow in Nashville and hear the interview surrounding this book! Once again, this author has shot it out of the park! I will definitely be buying this as a gift!

A fun murder mystery with some decently solid writing. The premise itself was fun too, and enough of a hook to keep me reading through.

The Agathas
Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4)

spolier free

summary/plot: The Agathas is about Alice and Iris. Alice, who disappeared last summer, and when she returns everyone's pissed. Then Iris, who after Alice returns is hired to be Alice's tutor. Then a girl dies, one of Alice's old friends, and everyone suspects the boyfriend did it, Alice and Iris aren't so sure. Overall this book was actually a really fun read with some serious elements thrown in.

characters: It's dual pov from Alice and Iris. I like being able to see how each of them thought about different people, and it made me like the characters even more. They had their flaws, but they're also teenagers, so it was understandable flaws.

what i liked: It was fun, most of the time it was a faster pace, and i enjoyed it.

what i didn't like: there were times the pace was unsteady and that annoyed me a little bit.

final thoughts: Overall it was a fun and great read, and i really do recommend it.

A delightfully charming mystery with characters you find yourself rooting for! My only quibble is that the two leads - Iris and Alice - were difficult to distinguish on the page (chapters alternated from each perspective). When communicating, it was hard to tell them apart. I am also a bit mystified by the cover choice...seems odd and not quite a visual representation of the book. Alas, I look forward to the next Castle Cove adventure!

2.5

In case this is the first time you happen to read one of my reviews, there are two things you have to know: mystery is my favourite genre and the first mystery books — aside from children’s books — I’ve ever read were Sherlock Holmes and Miss Marple stories.
So, of course when I found out there was going to be a YA mystery called “The Agathas”, with the tagline What would Agatha Christie do? I simply had to pick it up and read it.
I wasn’t expecting it to be the next literary masterpiece of the century, but I sure hoped the Christie-ness of it all would be way more pronounced than it actually was, to be honest.
Aside from this, the mystery wasn’t the most original thing I’ve ever read, it was a very basic YA mystery that could have come out around the same time One Of Us Is Lying did. It felt a bit too old, but not enough to count as an hommage to the queen of mystery herself.
I am not going to lie, I think A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and Truly Devious are the main cause why I always struggle to find YA mysteries that I end up falling in love with, because those two series are simply superior in my eyes and nothing will ever be like them.
What I did like were the two main characters, because they were both extremely unlikeable and a bit amoral. Which might sound absurd to you, but I like unlikeable characters in mysteries, especially when they are the detectives or, like in this case, the teen sleuths. It makes it way more interesting to follow their investigation if they are not goody-two-shoes.
The writing style was nice. I honestly couldn’t put the book down, in spite of it not being the most original or intriguing thing I’ve ever read, because the style was that perfect blend of things that make YA mysteries such a quick and compulsively readable genre.
I couldn’t tell the book was written by two different authors, which — in cases like this one — I think is a good thing. You have to edit the whole thing to make it feel whole, and the authors (and, presumably, their editors) did a great job at it. I don’t know if they wrote a POV/character each or if both of them wrote both Alice and Iris, but it was a good mix.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to read the second book in the series, at first, but the more I think about it, the more I am curious to see how the two of them become closer friends and how their friendship will develop. And also, what kind of mystery they are going to try and solve next. Based on the ending of book one, I have a good idea, but we will see.
Even if it wasn’t the best book I’ve ever encountered in my life, I would still recommend it if you enjoy the genre and are looking for something quick and easy to read. You can totally ignore the fact that this is a series, so if you just want to read book one you can, the mystery at the core of the story is solved by the end of the book and you won’t miss anything.
I will be of course review the second book as soon as I get to it, in the meantime I’d love to know if you’ve read it and what you thought of it if you did. Do you like Alice or Iris more? Personally, I am team Alice for now, but we will see how it goes in the future.

In The Agathas, we are introduced to Alice Ogilvie, an Agatha Christie loving, formerly popular, high schooler who once disappeared for five days; and Iris Adams, her tutor and fellow high schooler, who has never been popular and never had the opportunity to disappear.

When Alice’s ex-best friend disappears, and Alice’s ex-boyfriend is accused, Alice decides to take matters into her own hands, and along with Iris and Iris’ group of friends, dives into a mystery that may be her undoing.



In The Night in Question, Alice and Iris are back, and this time Alice is looking into the death of a movie star from decades ago. But then one of her ex-friends is terribly injured and her other ex-friend suspected, and Iris and Alice are on the case.



I absolutely loved these books. Alice and Iris are relatable, complex, captivating characters, and the cast of supporting characters is great as well. There’s humor, and suspense, and real thrills, and the mysteries are full of twists and turns that always had me guessing and quickly turning pages. I highly recommend these books.

I love a good mystery and this one didn't disappoint! I loved how all the characters, Alice and Iris (who are polar opposites) worked together to solve the mystery of the disappearance-turned-murder of their fellow classmate. Written in the premise of Agatha Christie mysteries, this one was great.