When Alice’s ex-best friend ends up dead, she’ll do whatever it takes to solve the crime, using her Agatha Christie obsession to pave the way. Armed with her secretive tutor Iris and Iris’s band of “Zoner” friends, they just might break the case wide open.

The Agatha’s is a promising novel about the lengths friends will go for each other, alive or dead. But it falls short on what it promised to do.

While the premise of the novel is great, the writing didn’t catch my attention. Unfortunately, it felt like the author(s) failed to fully research police investigations and media stories. Those dialogue scenes felt cringe worthy at best and just unnecessary in a lot of respects. It also felt like some of the side events were unnecessary and unresolved.

I appreciated the subtle Christie nods and the good twist and turns of this one, but sadly let down overall.

When Alice’s ex-best friend Brooke goes missing and her ex-boyfriend (and Brooke’s new boyfriend) is arrested for it, Alice and her tutor Iris set out on a mission to find who is really responsible.

I really enjoyed this book. Alice & Iris were such lovable characters and their growing relationship was really fun to read.

I thought the story line was wonderful! It kept me guessing and the twists were great!

I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys YA mystery & suspense. If you enjoyed the Good Girls Guide To Murder or the Truly Devious series you will love this book!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

Iris and Alice are two of my new favorite characters of all time. I knew I loved Kathleen Glasgow, her three previous books - Girl in Pieces, How to Make Friends With the Dark and You’d Be Home Now were all consumed by me within a couple of day so I knew that I would love at least half of this book as I’ve never read any of Liz Lawson’s other work, but I was hooked from the very first page of The Agatha’s.

Iris and Alice, two girls from completely different worlds in a high school where sticking with your own group is key, are paired together by the school counselor after Alice runs away over the summer, disappearing without a word, only to return five days later like nothing had happened at all. Fast forward to Halloween, when Alice’s ex best friend., Brooke Donovan (who is dating Alice’s ex-boyfriend, Steve Anderson), goes missing and a few days later the young girls body is discovered and they believe her boyfriend murdered her, but Alice and Iris aren’t quite convinced he’s the culprit, and Alice, an Agatha Christie buff, persuades Alice into helping - especially since there’s a $50,000 reward at stake.

I am completely obsessed with this book. Kathleen Glasgow is one of my favorite authors, and to get this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher Random House Childrens was an incredible honor. This one was such a fun read, just a couple of teenage detectives trying to solve a murder mystery to keep their friend from going to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and finding a beautiful friendship along the way. This book didn’t have a slow point for me, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and the plot twists that were throwing me off completely only excited me more to go along with every flick of the pages. The conclusion was something I never expected, but it was so good and the motive was exactly what you’re looking for in a story like this - completely insane and uncharacteristic for that particular character. I thought the growth of the characters throughout the book was a beautiful thing to watch grow so organically, nothing ever felt forced. And the way this book looks at people who have money and those who don’t in times of crime and investigations was really interesting, and needs to be addressed in more YA books. I loved this, barely wanted to put it down and I just fell in love with the main characters.

Please look up trigger warnings before picking this one up!

I 100% enjoyed this one and could not put it down. I loved the character development. To me Iris and Alice make this story - their friendship is what it is about. This is my first book I have read by Kathleen Glasgow but I own other books by her and I can’t wait to read them now!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟💫 4.5/5 stars

The Agathas is the teen thriller I needed after finishing the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and Truly Devious series. The Agathas follows Alice and Iris as they use the knowledge gleaned from Agatha Christie novels to solve the murder of popular girl, Brooke Donovan. Alice is a former high school it girl who has been shunned due to her mysterious disappearance and reappearance the previous summer. Iris is tasked with tutoring her and the two become unexpected friends. When Alice’s former best friend Brooke is murdered, Iris and Alice team up to become the Poirot of their small town.

This was so so good. I absolutely loved all of the Agatha Christie references and the small town setting of Castle Cove. Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson have created a whole world that I hope they revisit for many books. Iris and Alice are hilarious Veronica Mars/Nancy Drews and their friendship is the heart of the book. This one had me glued to the page and I bet it would be even better on audio. Highly recommend this one to fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and Truly Devious. I demand at least two sequels.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to be posted closer to release date.

Alice, one of the “Mains” popular clique returns to school from house arrest after losing all her friends, when her best friend starts dating her ex. Iris, one of the “Zoners” is tasked with tutoring Alice, and has her own secrets to bear.

On top of the typical high school drama, throw in a murdered (ex) friend and a wild investigation ensues, with Alice and Iris teaming up to solve the case.

My love for Veronica Mars has no bounds, so a girl detective story is a plot I tend to enjoy.

Many twists and turns, that I never could pin down the suspect until the climax unfolded. Nicely done.

Alice Ogilvie, one of the glamorous Main kids of Castle Cove, was dumped by her boyfriend Steve last summer. Steve promptly starts dating Alice's best friend Brooke, and Alice responds by disappearing for five days in a move that would make Agatha Christie proud. When Alice gets back, though, she is punished for her stunt with a school-appointed tutor, Iris. The two girls get tangled together in a web of truth and lies, though, when Brooke disappears after a very public fight with Steve. Unlike Alice, it looks like Brooke's not coming back. When Steve is arrested, Alice and Iris are convinced he is innocent, and decide to take a leaf out of Agatha Christie's book and prove it themselves.

This book is a lot more complex than your straightforward mystery. It deals with issues of corruption, sexism, negligence, abuse, and the power of leaning on friends. As a result, it was a riveting read that kept me on the edge of my seat, and the plot twists were so well-executed that I couldn't guess the ending. A lot of mysteries are either predictable or don't make any sense in the end, but in this novel, the breadcrumbs were there all along, but buried so deeply you don't realize it until everything comes together. Alice and Iris were really complex and well-developed characters, and I love that this book focuses on a strong female friendship instead of a romantic relationship. Romances are wonderful, but this was a breath of fresh air that I don't see very often.

I highly recommend this book for fans of young adult mysteries! Thank you so much to Random House Children's Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Alice's best friend, ok ex best friend since Brooke stole Alice's boyfriend, is murdered, and who doesn't believe that it's the boyfriend that did it? Alice and Iris, 2 teens thrown together by fate, and both decide using their little grey cells a la Poirot will be the way to solve this mystery since the local cops are really messing everything up.

I’m a huge fan of Kathleen Glasgow (You’d Be Home Now was one of my favorite books of last year) and really enjoyed Liz Lawson’s debut The Lucky One’s so I was really excited to read The Agathas. I quite enjoyed this book, and reading from both of the authors. I read a lot of YA thrillers so I can usually predict but I was actually surprised at the end of this one.

Review to be posted to goodreads closer to publication date

This was such a fun read. If I had more time, I probably would have read it in one day. It got hard to put down. I did figure out the killer early on, but it didn't matter. It was fun reading about Alice and Iris investigating.

Alice is a rich kid. She used to be best friends with the "mains". But her bff, Brooke, started dating Steve when Alice was gone for awhile during the summer. Steve and Alice were together before that and she was upset. So upset that she left without telling anyone. She was considered missing and the police were involved. But Alice came back on her own. It made her popular, but not in a good way. Everyone still talked about her and her need for attention. Alice goes to a party one night to talk to her old friends. She gets in an argument with Brooke. Steve walks Alice back to her car, but that causes Steve and Brooke to fight.

Iris isn't rich. She's trying to get enough money to move away with her mom. Her dad is abusive and they have a restraining order. He just ignores it and she's terrified. Iris starts tutoring Alice. She was offered $3000 and she couldn't pass it up. She and Alice have never been friends. They're super different. Iris is out walking the night of the party. She sees Alice drive away. Then she watched Steve and Brooke fighting. Brooke took off and Iris decided to follow her shortly after. But she never found Brooke.

The following day, people notice that Brooke isn't at school. She never went home, but her step dad didn't seem worried. He thought she was staying at Kennedy's house. But Kennedy said Brooke never showed up. Brooke's step dad is a coach at the school and well liked. He thinks that Brooke just went off, maybe even copying what Alice did. But Alice knows Brooke and knows she would never just leave without her stuff. Alice and Iris start talking about things. Alice got into Agatha Christie books and she decides she wants to find Brooke. Even though the police are involved, they don't seem to be doing much. Iris is friends with a few kids that study forensics and they get involved too. When out searching, they find Brooke dead below the cliffs. The police focus on Steve. After all, he disappeared that night and doesn't remember what happened. But Alice is sure Steve would never hurt Brooke. So the kids all work together along with Steve's attorney that used to babysit Iris. They start unraveling things that no one knew about different people. Both from that night and from the past.

The pacing was good and I really liked how Alice and Iris grew to be friends even though they didn't quite realize it. Alice doesn't really have anyone besides her nanny, Brenda. Iris doesn't want to get close to people because she's leaving. I would love another book with this friend group trying to solve more crimes. It's hinted at, so I hope it happens.

I gave this book 5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

Warnings for abuse (multiple kinds), neglect, drinking, drugs, death. The authors note does have resources included for people that might need help.

The Agathas promises more than it delivers. Perhaps it set my expectations too high with its title, comparing it to any Agatha Christie novel, but I found that, while the concept is compelling, the plot itself fell a bit flat. For one thing, a lot of the speech patterns were awkward, and it was very clear that there were two adults who were trying (and failing) to pass as teenagers.
I also found that as the story went on and Alice and Iris became more involved in each others' lives, it was hard to differentiate between the two of them. By that I mean that there was almost no stylistic differences between the two characters' points of view.
The plot and mystery itself I think was well done, although the entire time, one of the only things I could think of the entire time was why so many people were just handing these teenage girls so much information, Ricky especially. Alice and Iris being the ones who solved the mystery just didn't make sense to me.
Overall, the story itself fell flat, especially with the random side characters who were kind of there but kind of not and the Agatha Christie mentions that weren't in it enough to be a theme but in it too much that it was awkward.
(2.5 stars rounded up)

The Agatha’s is such a fun read about two teen detectives, while it does have some scenes that may trouble some readers. I loved the entire book and literally cheered at some points ! I hope this series continues because you just want to continue with iris and Alice. What new adventures can they find and of course if your a fan of Agatha Christie then this is a must read for any of her fans !

A fun romp of a novel full of Agatha Christie Easter Eggs tucked away in a fast-paced YA mystery/thriller.

This was an interesting read, but I felt like THE AGATHAS promised a lot more than it gave. Based on a character's love for Agatha Christie mysteries, and the comp to Veronica Mars, I expected a lot more intrigue and mystery and just generally MORE of everything. It felt a little shallow. Plus, I didn't feel like the characters were fully developed -- I wanted more of them and Iris' friend group, especially. I expected to be blown away by the intrigue and mystery, and to be totally immersed in the story of two girls playing detective -- and sadly, I wasn't.

While not my favorite read of 2022, overall I still enjoyed THE AGATHAS (even if it left me wanting.)

A thank you to Delacorte and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I'm between a 3 and 3.5 star, so per my review policy for ARCs, I'm deferring to a 3.5 star
This wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it ended up being pretty entertaining! This strikes an interesting tone of sort of snarky Scooby Doo. There's a kind of flatness to the characters, but I felt like it served the kind of hijinks-y vibe that the story was going for, so that actually worked pretty well for me. I really enjoyed all the Christie Easter eggs, and thought this ended up having a fun, girl gang kind of vibe to the plot that was very readable and fun. This hints at being the beginning of a series, and if so, I'd check out more in this world

The Agathas is a delightful, campy romp of a mystery. With so many Ya mysteries becoming popular (Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Truly Devious, Karen M. McManus, etc...) is seems like it would be difficult to stand out in a sea of popular favorites. However, this book's connection to source material (Agatha Christie) and its memorable cast of characters makes this book a stand out, fun time.

There are two kinds of people at Castle Cove High School - the Mains who are rich and popular and everyone else. Alice Ogilvie used to be one of the Mains. Then her boyfriend broke up with her and started dating her best friend. Then Alice disappeared for five days causing an all-out manhunt and then quietly reappeared. After a period of house arrest and immersing herself in the works of Agatha Christie, she is back in school and needs a tutor.

Iris Adams is one of the others at CCHS. She's bright but poor and determined to get through school without making waves - or friends. The pay for tutoring Alice would go a long way to building up her getting out of Castle Cove fund - and getting out is what Iris really wants to do.

Alice attends a Halloween party at Levy Castle where she has an argument with her former boyfriend Steve and ex-best friend Brooke. Then Alice storms off for home. Iris, who is out walking, sees Brooke and Steve arguing and Brooke running off. She follows but doesn't find Brooke.

When Brooke doesn't come home from the party, only Alice seems to be worried. Her adopted father Matt Donovan who coaches basketball and teaches history at CCHS doesn't seem concerned. And Brooke's friends don't seem concerned either. It isn't until Alice calls Brooke's very rich grandmother that things start to happen.

When Steve is arrested for the murder, Alice recruits Iris to help her prove that he's innocent. At first, Iris is in it for the $50,000 reward. She wasn't close to Brooke or any of the other Mains. But the two girls find lots of secrets as they begin their investigations. They discover all sorts of things from illicit relationships, planted evidence, drugs and bribery. Luckily, Alice has a secret contact who provides her with information and Iris has the rest of her group of friends who are into forensics, because the police are either corrupt or clueless and reluctant to look at anyone but Steve for the crime.

I enjoyed this story very much. I really liked both Iris and Alice who were both intriguing characters. Alice was a neglected, poor little rich girl whose parents were way too busy and absent to pay any attention to her. She was deeply lonely. Iris had a loving and supportive mother who worked as a bartender, but she also had an abusive father that she was terribly afraid of and who didn't pay enough attention to the restraining order. The side characters from Iris's Zoner friends to Steve's lawyer were also positive characters with the Mains being negative characters.

Fans of mysteries will enjoy this excellent story.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: May 3, 2022

An entertaining YA whodunnit is a thinly veiled tribute to Agatha Christie (and Murder She Wrote). This was an fun and fast read but I found some of the themes and storylines problematic for a YA book. They used tactics from Christie’s books as a justification to bully and drug others in the name of solving the mystery and it left a sour taste in my mouth. I also had a difficult time reconciling Alice’s character—she goes between wildly poignant to wildly immature and whiny and I found her distracting. Figured out who it was quite early in the book but there were enough twists and turns to make me keep guessing until the end!

Excellent mystery with well-developed characters, intriguing twists, and best of all, Agatha Christie references!

When I was younger there were few things I liked better than Nancy Drew mysteries. I had my mom's old copies. And then in the 80s, there were these lovely updates: The Nancy Drew Files. Just Google the covers for a fun look at the 80s! The point being is that I love a book about teen detectives! The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson is an amazing teen detective YA novel that I think will definitely appeal to teens who love Karen McManus books.

The Agathas is a dual POV story that looks into the death of a young teen girl in a wealthy coastal California Community called Castle Cove. Our two young Agathas are Alice Ogilvie, a wealthy girl most known for her five-day disappearance last summer, and Iris Adams, who is not known at all. Iris is hired by Alice's wealthy parents to tutor her. They had just met when a wealthy heiress classmate, Brooke Donovan, goes missing.

What I loved the most about this story was the pairing of Iris and Alice. I love a reluctant pairing, an odd couple story. This had it in spades. Having Iris and Alice come from different sides of the tracks was important for both their character growth and their ability to work together as a team. The associated secondary characters that satellite the main two were a wonderful addition to this mystery. I quite enjoyed their crew of gumshoes and the work they put in.

I'm definitely adding this to our school library. I have a feeling that students who like One of Us is Lying will also like this novel.

Bonus love for that Agatha Christie references and quotes throughout! And I am hoping that Castle Cove is a nod to Cabot Cove of Murder, She Wrote. Or maybe a Christie reference that I don't understand.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson for review.