Typically, YA mysteries are hit or miss for me, and The Agathas is a hit! The characters are likeable and you find yourself rooting for them throughout the book. This story was fun, entertaining, and left me eager for the next book from these authors. If you are an Agatha Christie fan, this is a MUST READ!

THE AGATHAS by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson is a new mystery story written for young adults. Glasgow (How to Make Friends with the Dark) and Lawson (The Lucky Ones) share the perspective of Iris Adams and Alice Ogilvie, two high school students who unexpectedly bond while searching for answers to a classmate's disappearance. Reminiscent of the humor and bungling investigation of Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building," the sleuths frequently channel Agatha Christie and her characters. For example, they compare themselves to Miss Marple, saying, "Because people don't see you, you have free rein to listen in on conversations, observe behavior, and learn patterns. All of these things are essential to surviving life, particularly high school." Jumping from one suspect to another can be a bit dizzying, but the frantic pace will keep readers engaged. The authors also weave in commentary about social class like "These kids and all their privilege. It makes me sick. Floating through life on a cloud of money" or noting: 'In Castle Cove, you are either the served or the server." Witty co-narrators, Iris and Alice struggle with their own secrets and feelings of self-worth, due in part of a domestic abuse situation. There is also plenty of back and forth in the final authors' note, revealing the fun Glasgow and Lawson had in crafting this tale. A lower lexile (660) makes for a quick, entertaining read.

This was a lot of fun. I have not had the best luck with YA mystery books - which is surprising since I’ve been reading great fantasy, horror/paranormal, and contemporary YA lately- so I’m really happy to finally have a win in the YA mystery category. This was part Hallmark Mystery Movie, meets Scooby-Doo, and with a slice of Gone Girl, which is just about a perfect combo in my mind. This was a page turner that was entertaining and just good fun and I hope there will be a book two.

Since I do review a lot of LGBTQ+ books, I want to mention that this was not one of them. In fact I don’t think there was a single LGBTQ+ character –at least that I noticed- in the whole book -which I found a bit unbelievable since most of this book takes place in a high school-. I would not mind seeing at least a little more diversity if there is a book two. Anyway, I also want to mention that there was no romance and nothing really beyond a few characters talking about crushes and exes –except for one side character bragging about having sex with another side character. There is talk about abuse and death, since this is a murder mystery, but overall I think this book would be appropriate for a wide range of ages.

I found that the book took me a little bit to get into it, there are a lot of characters you don’t know what to think about, but as soon as the components for the mystery started to unfold, I was hooked. The mystery is well done and fun to read. There are plenty of suspects and it’s hard to know who to trust. I also loved all the little moments and quotes from Agatha Christie novels. This felt like the authors wrote a love letter to her and if you enjoy Christie’s mysteries, I think you will get a kick out of this book. I also have to admit that when it came to the mystery, I was mad at myself for not figuring it out. When I look back at the clues, I should have gotten it, but the authors did a good job of tricking me.

TLDR: If you are a YA mystery fan or an Agatha Christie fan, I would easily recommend this. This book was one of the better done, and just fun, YA mysteries that I have read in a while. The two main characters have good friendship chemistry together and I enjoyed their investigating shenanigans. There is talk that this could become a series. If that is the case I would absolutely read book two.

I loved this!!! I am a huge Agatha Christie fan and I've reread a number of her books referenced in this book recently, so I even recognized some of the specific quotes. This is probably most like a Good Girl's Guide to Murder, but it is definitely its own book. I really grew to love the two main characters, Alice and Iris, who were very well developed. Alice starts out as that popular, rich, mean girl that everyone loves to hate and Iris starts out as that quiet emo girl that people love to ignore, but the authors do a great job of letting you get to know them both. Included in this story is an aspect of domestic abuse, which felt like a natural part of the story, but the authors included a note about it at the end, which I appreciated. The authors also did a great job with the supporting characters, as well as the potential suspects, slowly unpeeling the layers, which kept me guessing all the way to the end. As much as I like a Good Girl's Guide to Murder, I had mixed feelings about the main character. But this book had me empathizing with both Alice and Iris and I loved watching them become unlikely friends and allies, as they worked together to piece together the clues. I have to add that there were also quite a few funny moments in the book, one of which included Alice speaking French to a bookie (I'll leave it at that). I sat there giggling out loud and drew some strange looks from my family, ha ha!), another of which included Alice and a horse. This was an awesome YA mystery and I hope they write a lot more books in this series because I will be waiting in line.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and Random House, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved this book so much. It is a great story for those who love traditional who done it style novels.

The Agathas is a mystery where two unlikely teens team up to solve the mystery of a missing girl, Agatha Christie style. After the disappearance of her former best friend, Alice is convinced there was foul play. When the girl's boyfriend is arrested, Alice and her tutor-turned-friend, Iris believe there is more going on and set up to find out what really happened.

I really enjoyed this book. I had been intrigued by the premise and I am so happy to say that it did not disappoint! This book was such a page turner, and I was so curious to keep going and find out what happened next. I think the writing was really well done to keep the reader engaged, and I was still guessing almost to the very end. I also really liked Alice and Iris. I think they probably could have used a little more development, but I think there were some loose ends in the book that could possibly call for a sequel, so I'm thinking that we might see a little more development there if that's the case.

Overall, I really liked this and I am so glad I read it. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of mysteries!

More YA mysteries like this one, please!

I keep seeing this book being compared to Karen McManus’ work, and while that’s true in terms of pacing and readability, this is much more akin to Maureen Johnson’s work relative to quality and humor.

It bothers me that so many YA mysteries—though well paced and often a fun ride—aren’t often actually *good* mysteries. Too many cop out solves, plot holes, and willing to sacrifice quality for pacing and twists.

Much like Johnson’s work, The Agathas is proof that YA mysteries can be catchy and compelling as well as driven by good quality writing and plot.

I loved the characters, the setting, and the can’t-stop-reading pace of this book, but I loved it sharp humor and clever plotting even more. We should demand well-crafted mysteries with plausible solves out of the YA in this genre just as we do with adult books of this type. There are plenty of YA authors capable of such writing (as evidenced here), and plenty of audience in the genre who can appreciate it.

This has a twisty, complicated premise and two lovely heroines, and it’s also funny, sweet, and smart. I loved the clever nods to Agatha Christie throughout the story. Let’s hope there’s a sequel in the works…I need more time with Alice, Iris, and the rest of the gang!

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Very fun, easy to read, fast paced murder mystery!

Kathleen Glasgow is one of my favorite YA Authors and when I heard she was writing a murder mystery, I HAD to have it! Per usual - she does not disappoint!

What I loved:

-Character-Driven
-Unlikely friendship
-Amateur sleuthing
-Real world issues
-Funny, at times!

The only thing that I didn't really love was that, even though this is 'YA', it still felt as though some of the dialogue was really juvenile; would have me thinking "no teenager talks like this". But that is just my perspective ! It did not take away from overall enjoyment!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for this eARC copy!

Crystal Cove, a beautiful seaside town where the rich live among those that serve them. Alice Ogilvie is one of the Mains (rich girls) and last summer after her basketball star boyfriend, Steve, broke up with her she disappeared. Everyone was looking for her and one day she just showed back up and never talked about it again. Fast forward and Alice’s ex-best friend, Brooke Donovan, who happens to be Steve’s new girlfriend goes missing.

Iris Adams wants nothing more to escape Crystal Cove but lacking the money she agrees to tutor Alice. Soon the two pair up to solve the mystery of what happened to Brooke Donovan. Alice knows all about solving mysteries from reading all of Agatha Christie’s books. Can the girls solve the mystery or will the secrets of Crystal Cove threaten to ruin it all?

Pairing these two authors together is *chef’s kiss*! I’m a huge Veronica Mars fan and the setting/characters, just the total feeling of this book gave me Veronica Mars vibes. I loved not only the main characters but the secondary characters and hope that there are many more sequels and mysteries to solve.

I absolutely loved The Agathas. I am a huge Christie fan. I think it was great how that was used. Alice and Iris were believable and many of the minor characters were really fun too.

Oh how much I loved Alice and Iris in this story! I recently read Death On The Nile with my book club and it was so fun seeing the Agatha Christie quotes in this book! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute in this story and loved the twists and turns. The nods to Agatha were perfect and made the entire story feel familiar but new and fun. Alice and Iris were perfect and I love their sleuthing antics. Every moment was wonderful and such a refreshingly fun murder mystery. I loved it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

✔️ loved both Iris and Alice - they were both awesome characters, and learned and grew so much through the course of the book ; and their budding friendships 🥰
✔️a mystery very much in the style of Agatha Christie , although we’ve got emails, texts and social media thrown in to the mix
✔️ all the references to Poirot and Miss Marple - #AgathaChristie fans will love this ; not to mention the quotes at the beginning of each chapter

not particularly memorable or enjoyable if i'm being honest. none of the characters really spoke to me, nor did i find most of the plot that engaging. i did like the killer reveal, but now that i think about it it was quite franky painfully obvious from the very beginning.

I have been a fan of Kathleen Glasgow for a while now, so when I saw that she was a co-author of The Agathas I was all in! The Agathas is a fun, fast-paced young adult mystery involving 2 girls from different walks of life forming an unlikely friendship to solve the death of a local teen. Glasgow and Lawson tell this story in alternating character perspectives, both perfectly encapsulating what makes these girls unique. The authors create a cast of diverse, ragtag characters and the alternating perspectives move the story along so quickly that you can't put it down. Glasgow and Lawson do a fabulous job of weaving storylines and producing enough red herrings to keep you guessing til the end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a fun, fast paced YA mystery.

I enjoyed this character-driven mystery novel about an unlikely pair of amateur teen sleuths who decide to solve a murder when their small-town police department botches the investigation into the disappearance of their classmate. Told in alternating perspectives, each girl holds one piece of the puzzle, but they must overcome their mistrust of each other in order to solve the case. This book is an homage to Agatha Christie, and like a good Christie story, there's always another layer of mystery to uncover before the story is finished. Fans of Holly Jackson's book "A Good Girl's Guide to Murder" and Maureen Johnson's "Truly Devious" series will appreciate this one.

Yet another book where someone from the "ruling" class at school has become an outcast and winds up realizing that the friendship they have with a "loser" is stronger and more meaningful. The mystery part itself reminded me of other YA mysteries I've read, while the "Agatha" connection was so shoehorned in it could easily have been excised with no loss. Given the description I'd hoped for more of a connection, more using the books and themes than there was.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

Although this is YA, I would not recommend for my 7th grade readers HOWEVER, I very much enjoyed this whodunnit!! I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the tie in of Agatha Christie. As a huge fan, I appreciated the quotes and references! I didn’t enjoy the emphasis on teen drinking but understand the role it played in the novel. I wasn’t expecting the ending! The kids working too to solve the case and showing how all walks of
Life can be friends really did it for me! There were some big words used in the book that I had to look up, overall it was a fun read!

An excellent start to this phenomenal series...hands down!! It does appear as a YA mystery thriller, but you are caught up in the characters for a can't-put-down book, you will forget it is what it is!!!
The descriptions of the teenagers behavior are all too real for me and encountering what they call themselves "Mains" the popular kids.... then there are the "Zones" or "Emo" more transitional students trying to figure out where they identify. As unfortunate as labels are, the book gives you an aspect of both we know exist.

In the small town of Castle Cove, Alice, one of the "Mains" is dumped by Steve for her best friend, Brooke. Alice is heartbroken and disappears for a week without an explanation of where she was when she returns. When Brooke disappears and doesn't return, all eyes are on Steve. With a $50,000 reward offered by Brooke's grandmother, Alice and Iris, "Zones" are on an adventure to solve the case.
I laughed aloud at the incredible duo and Iris's resilience to overcome stigma and dreams of getting out of this town. The bond between the two shatters the lines between them for an unforgettable mystery thriller they are to solve with none other than the Agatha Christie series as their guide.
You can't go wrong there! I can't wait to read #2!
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's books for this title in exchange for my honest review!

This book was so fun! I couldn’t put it down and ended up reading until 4am. For a YA book, it’s better written with more realistic relationships and twists than most adult thriller/mysteries today. I loved the growing friendship between the two main characters, and hope there’s a sequel or series in the works!

I was ecstatic to see that this is the first book in a new series!

I loved it. You all know I adore Agatha Christie, and this YA mystery is a fitting homage to her legacy. There were quotes from her works at the beginning of each chapter, and the characters referenced her books (and Hercule Poirot) frequently.

Aside from the Agatha connection, I enjoyed the multilayered characters and the twists and turns of the mystery. This book is more lightheaded than A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, but it's more emotional than Truly Devious. Fans of either series will enjoy this one, for sure!