I am an avid fan of Kathleen Glasgow and was beyond excited to receive the eARC of her newest book, The Agathas. This was an excellent mystery that is perfect to hand to fans of Karen M. McManus! I read so many mysteries and thrillers, and it is unusual for one to have be guessing all the way to the end, but Glasgow and Lawson did it!

I absolutely love Glasgow as an author, so this was on my TBR for the longest time. The characters were so interesting and funny. I loved the dual perspectives. The characters' internal dialogue was thoughtful and hilarious.

Thank you @delacortepress and @netgalley for the #gifted eARC of THE AGATHAS!

Calling all GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER and TRULY DEVIOUS fans! I have a new teen sleuthing duo that you will love!

Last summer, Alice Ogilvie disappeared for 5 days after her boyfriend Steve dumped her. No one knows where she went. Fast forward to Halloween, and Alice’s former BFF Brooke Donovan (who is now dating Steve) disappears from a party. Alice and her tutor, Iris Adams, think it's very sus that Brooke’s stepdad doesn’t seem worried that Brooke is missing. And that police don’t seem to care at all.

Alice has read every Agatha Christie book so she is convinced that with Iris’s help, they can find Brooke and figure out what happened. They just need to use their little gray cells.

As a teen detective fan and an Agatha Christie fan, I loved this book. The quotes that the authors included at the beginning of Alice’s chapters had me smirking with glee. There’s a scene where the girls decide to channel their inner Hercule Poirot and pretend to be French foreign exchange students in order to gain information from someone that was hilarious.

It sounds like this is being set up to be a series which I would absolutely love! Fingers crossed!

THE AGATHAS is out 5/3/22.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4654004423?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
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My last few reads have been 'heavier', so I was ready for a fun escapist YA read. And The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson was beckoning to me!
From the publisher: "Who killed Brooke Donovan? It’s the biggest mystery of the summer, and everyone in Castle Cove thinks it’s the wrong guy. Fans of One of Us Is Lying and Riverdale can’t miss this page-turning who-done-it that’s sure to be the next must read Young Adult thriller!"

Yup, you caught my attention with that description. But what clinched it for me was the fun premise. WWAC do? What would Agatha Christie do! Yes, our intrepid teenaged sleuths take their inspiration (and lots of tips) from Christie's mystery novels. Each chapter opens with a Christie quote that is perfect for what's going on in the chapter.

What about the cast of characters? Oh, Glasgow and Lawson capture high school life perfectly. Our lead pair of investigators come from very different backgrounds and school social cliques. Alice is wealthy and a member of the 'Mains.' You know - the popular 'it' crew with money to burn and lots of attitude. And for her, school is really just a place to socialize. Iris is from the wrong side of the tracks and is one of the 'Zoners' - the kids that are smart, the nerds, and kinda the bottom of the social strata. This unlikely pair find common (but a bit rocky) ground in their pursuit of a murderer. There's a large cast of supporting players that provide lots of sub plots - and many, many choices for the 'whodunit'.

My guess for whodunit changed many times as the book progressed. Glasgow and Lawson lead the reader down the garden path many times on the way to the final pages. The mystery is well done. But, the other bits that's also well done are the situations, emotions, stressors, highs and lows of being a teenager. Of that hard bit of finding yourself and what you want.

I could easily picture the settings of The Agathas. The school, the roller rink, the country club and more.(Maybe more than a little bit of Riverdale in my mind as well)

The Agathas was the perfect, fun, escapist read. And it looks like the door might be open to another 'Agatha' tale? I'd be happy to visit Castle Cove again. Fingers crossed!

This book totally wowed me.

I have never been a huge Agatha Christie fan, but this book had me totally hankering for her books. And I thought the play out of this book was perfectly done and a great homage to her greatness.

If you love a good mystery that is going to turn you in directions that you never expected, this is a book for you. I will admit, I knew who was responsible from earlier than the halfway mark, but let me tell you, that DID NOT deter from my enjoyment of this book.

Two unlikely friends join forces when one of their peers goes missing… The disappearance of Brooke Donovan means something different to both of these girls. Iris was the last person to see her and Alice was her best friend, though they weren’t on speaking terms before her disappearance. But they stop at nothing to figure out what happened to her.

This book has a wonderfully colorful cast of characters and gasp moments to keep you on the edge of your seat. I loved Alice, even though her motives didn’t always seem pure. She was a girl that had it all, until things started to crash down around her. One single move had her losing all of her friends, leaving her alone in a world she used to be on top of. And Iris is a girl from the other side of the tracks, so to speak, who wants nothing more than to earn enough money to get her and her mother OUT of town. So, the reward money for solving this is a huge motivator.

No matter what the motives are for their investigation, these girls show a hell of a lot of heart and determination to discover what happened and to keep innocent people out of trouble.

This was juicy and extra and I just LOVED it!

#TheAgathas⁣
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“But anyone who knows anything about solving mysteries knows that understanding psychology and character are the keys to solving a crime.” ⁣
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When you start off with saying Dame Agatha Christie is one bad bitch, you have my attention and respect. I’m down like Jay Sean in 2009. Every chapter starts off with a different AC book quote, and this felt like it was literally written for me, as a teen. ⁣
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When I say I tore through this book I mean it. The pacing was great, I loved the drama outside the mystery, and the mystery itself was well thought out. There’s a bombshell that had me floored halfway through and was such a good and different twist.⁣
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I love a good murder board, and I love when a group of friends get together to assemble one. This has both. This a true YA book and had the YA drama you can expect. I personally loved it even as someone that’s not a young adult. I loved the different dynamic characters from Iris and Alice to Ricky to to Lilian to Cole. Everyone was perfectly imperfect. If you’re a fan of anything Agatha Christie, Veronica Mars, or Nancy Drew, check out The Agathas! ⁣
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Thank you so much @delacortepress for the gifted copy. The Agathas is out today, May 3rd! ⁣
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“It’s like all those quiet people, when they do lose their tempers, they lose them with a vengeance.” —Agatha Christie, The ABC Murders⁣
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QOTD: We all know I grew up reading Agatha Christie. What books do you remember vividly from your childhood?

I really enjoyed this! Definitely good for fans of One of Us is Lying and the first two Good Girl's Guide to Murder Books (the last one in that series was not my cup of tea). I do think that for any YA mystery with amateur teen sleuths, you're going to have to suspend your disbelief at least somewhat, and I'm fine with that. The premise here is that Alice Ogilvie, popular high schooler, went missing for a week the summer before this book is set, and because the police put a lot of time and money into looking for her, she's been on house arrest. She's able to go back to school where she's being shunned by the other popular kids, especially her ex-boyfriend Steve (who dumped her for her best friend, one of the factors precipitating her disappearance). Meanwhile, she is being tutored by Iris, who is not popular and not wealthy like Alice, but they strike up a strong bond because they both see Alice's ex-best friend Brooke just before she disappears. Because of Alice's earlier disappearance, the police don't take Brooke's disappearance particularly seriously until her body turns up, and Alice and Iris, along with Iris' quirky set of friends and - unbelievably - a public defender, decide to figure out the mystery themselves so that Steve isn't convicted of a murder he didn't commit. I liked the twists and, even though Alice and Iris aren't always consistently likeable characters, I liked their dynamic a lot. I wish the Agatha Christie angle had been played up even more, but it's definitely present in Alice's obsession with her plots.

The e-ARC of this book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.

When Brooke Donovan disappears on Halloween night, most people in Castle Cove just think she must have run away. But her former best friend, Alice Ogilvie, doesn't think Brooke would do that. She partners with her tutor, Iris, and they begin to try to solve the mystery. They are even more convinced that something is wrong when Brooke's body is found and her boyfriend is arrested. The facts, as they know them, do not add up to Steve committing this terrible crime. Using what they've learned from reading Agatha Christie novels, Alice and Iris try to find out what really happened.

I didn't love this book. It may just be me personally, but I am tired of reading about rich kids and their "troubles." Even though Iris isn't rich and has some family issues, they were not enough to outweigh the kids who have plenty of money, cars, etc.

Fans of Agatha Christie will rejoice at rookie detectives Alice and Iris. Last summer Alice went missing for five days much like her favourite author – after she finds out that her ex-boyfriend and ex-bestfriend become a couple. Halloween night – Alice’s former bestfriend Brookes goes missing. Alice with a penchant for mystery decides to join forces with her tutor Iris and convinces her that they can solve this mystery. Much like an Agatha Christie novel, the twists and turns this novel takes are outrageous – almost too preposterous – however it’s a fun wild ride and I loved the unlikely duo, Alice and Iris are perfect teen protagonists.

I don’t know if this will be a series, but the ending pretty much alludes that there might be a sequel and I am here for it.

Check this one out if you love Agatha Christie and her oddball characters Miss Marple and Poirot.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I read 50 pages of this book and was very bored. I didn't finish it. I thought thrillers were supposed fast pasted? I don't know if you like slow paced book and thrillers usually move to fast for you try this one? I like thrillers when it grabs me and it and pulls me in and I just can't stop reading this one just didn't do that. I feel like the characters didn't have much difference, like I would be reading a chapter and forget who was narrating. Overall maybe I'll come back in different mood but I think this one was just not for me.

*I received a ARC from NetGalley. Thank you Penguin Random House!!

Two YA craft masters bring us a modern-day Agatha Christie duo that comes together to find a missing girl when the police and everyone around them seems to think she just ran away in THE AGATHAS.

"It's true that a girl disappeared this summer, and it turned out to be something else," I say, "but this might not be like that. We're not all the same."

Alice may have disappeared last summer, but on Halloween night her former BFF Brooke disappears and the only person who agrees with her is her tutor, Iris - who may have been the last person to see Brooke alive. As they forge an unlikely friendship and investigate her disappearance, they uncover plenty of secrets and suprises along the way.

What I loved about it most was guessing at how these two incredible authors wrote the story, having read books from each of them I was still blown away by how these two characters came together, and how effortless their banter and friendship seemed. The Agatha Christie quotes kicking off each chapter were the perfect nod to the timeless author, and got me in the mood for each and every scene.

With great supporting characters that kept me guessing and plenty of action to move the story along, I absolutely loved THE AGATHAS, and hope this writing duo has plans to write more together in the future!

Grab a friend to devour this one with; with plenty of fun twists and turns, you'll want to gush and guess what's next with someone and won't be able to put it down until you solve the mystery!

So thankful to Delacorte Press + NetGalley for giving me an advance reader copy of this title to read and review, I cannot wait for it to be available to all readers it is AMAZING.

Castle Cove is the perfect place to escape to for a while, though if you’re looking to enjoy a nice, quiet book with a cute storyline, you’d better look elsewhere! The Agathas is one of my new favorite YA books, and though it’s fictional and entertaining, there are some pretty realistic and sometimes gritty scenes that occur.

The book begins with a chapter depicting Alice Ogilvie returning to school after a brief stint of house arrest, which she earned after she found out her boyfriend dumped her and she disappeared for several days. Since she’s been out of school for a while, her grades aren’t great and her guidance counselor pairs her up with Iris Adams, a nobody, as a homework tutor and since this is a story, of course they become besties.

Okay, maybe not quite besties, especially since Iris is definitely not in the same friend group as Alice. Of course, Iris has heard rumors around school and is curious about Alice’s legendary disappearance which means they both find it strange when one of Alice’s friends, Brooke, goes missing.

Despite the fact that Alice isn’t quite as close with Brooke as she once was, it just so happens that Iris was the last person to see Brooke before she disappeared. Despite the fact that the police think they have to things figured out, Alice and Iris have found inconsistencies with what is being reported and what really happened. At this point in the book, I was pretty hooked and getting A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder vibes and loving it. There are multiple chapter narratives that occur over the course of this book, including text messages between characters, which was difficult for me to follow at first, but once I got into the story and had sorted out who was who I found that the different perspectives made for a thrilling reading experience!

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Random House Children’s Books

3.5 stars

This book has all the A Good Girls Guide To Murder vibes, and I was so happy to have found it. I loved the sleuthing and the girls teaming up to solve a mystery, and the zany hijinks were so fun. The Agatha Christie element was well-played and properly delivered, and the pacing was just right.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacourte Press for the arc for review.

I had a really good time with this one: an Agatha Christie-inspired YA mystery that kept the clues spooling out at a good pace, while also building a believable and interesting friendship between the two main characters, with a really fun, tropey set of side characters to fill out the cast.

While it does get a bit heavy-handed at times (referring to high school cliques by names like The Mains, Zoners, etc, unironically and outloud; referring to both Iris and Alice's pasts ominously without revealing details; somewhat overblown stereotypes of the bad boy, the rich girl, the nerds), it also leans by the same degree into campy fun, with Iris and Alice taking solving the mystery into their own hands, sneaking into suspects' houses, setting up a murder board complete with connecting string, burner phones, and even the requisite townspeople with pertinent information, very Murder She Wrote.

The mystery is set up with plenty of legitimately believable ways it could have gone, and the idea of two teenagers with no reason to even like each other taking it on is both hilarious and delightful. Their separate reasons for getting involved serve as reasonable motivation for them both, though, and also as solid underpinning for the friendship that develops between them. The motley little gang that has come together by the end of the novel, in roller skates, no less, is definitely a group I'd like to see again.

3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads.

“ ‘She’s had a long life of experience in noticing evil, fancying evil, suspecting evil, and going forth to do battle with evil.’—iris adams! This book is exactly what I needed Agatha Christie references with some Veronica mars teenage murder mystery detectives! I loved every minute of it! Alice is fresh out of a scandal when she is assigned to be tutored by iris Adams then Alice’s her ex best friend Brooke winds up murdered. This begins a beautiful friendship for the girls and the mystery begins! Read this book!

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson. Pub Date: May 3, 2022. Rating: 3.5 Stars. A YA mystery, this book is a homage to Agatha Christie with a teenage twist. In Castle Cove, Alive disappears and then returns but does not talk about where she went or what happened. At the time of her disappearance, she was dumped by her then boyfriend Steve. Upon return, Steve is dating one of her friends who subsequently disappears. When this happens, Alice and her tutor Iris set out on a mission to discover what happened. Teen detectives with whit and angst, this book is for YA and Adult readers who love a good mystery. At times I felt the novel was slightly slow, but overall executed well. I was not completely invested in the characters and wished I was. I could see this becoming a series in the future. Overall, solid read but not my absolute favorite. Thank you to Random House Children's, Delacorte Press and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

If you like the whodunit of Agatha Christie this YA version might be of interest. The setup took a bit but you know it's mystery. I thought it was kinda clever to use an actual event from Christie's life as a plot of the book. Where I disconnected from the story was the framing of the haves and have not which is also classic Christie framing but it was just ok.

I enjoyed this book, but didn't find it OMG Amazing. Probably won't recommend as a first purchase, but if there's room to spare grab it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This book was good. A mystery with a modern twist. I usually do not like characters like Alice, but she was likable. Iris the "invisible girl" was also very likable and relatable. They pair up, as unalike as they are, to look into the disappearance of Brooke, Alice's ex-best friend, and her ex's new girlfriend. The drama! I honestly liked this book and the mystery more than I thought I would. This is one that I will recommend.

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I loved every minute of this book!!!