With frequent nods to the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie, this YA thriller has a fast pace and well developed, believable characters. I enjoyed the realistic dialogue and true depictions of teen angst. Following a previous disappearance of a local teen girl who was hoping to make a point, another teen girl goes missing. The fact that people assumed she was just being a copycat was infuriatingly real, and I liked the not too subtle poke at people who assume that teen girls are overly simple and emotional. The girls in this book are smart, resourceful and caring. Overall, a good read that shows how tough it can be for adults to believe that teens know the truth about things.

I enjoyed the overall mystery and the references to Agatha Christie novels! I couldn’t guess who was the killer so I enjoyed finding out who it was at the end. I wasn’t super interested in any of the characters but it was an enjoyable YA mystery I think lots of people would like!

**4.5-stars rounded up**

A year ago, high school it-girl, Alice Ogilve, disappeared in the wake of a nasty break-up with her boyfriend, Steve. At the time it was considered a very suspicious disappearance. The whole town of Castle Cove was put on alert. A massive search began for her as it was feared that Alice may have been a victim of something terrible.

Like one of her idols, Dame Agatha Christie, Alice ultimately returned home, but she wasn't talking. She never told anyone where she had been, what had happened to her, or really why she had left in the first place. Now once popular Alice is a social outcast, watching from the sidelines as her ex-best friend, Brooke Donovan, dates her ex-boyfriend Steve. Ugh, what a mess.

After a party, Brooke and Steve are seen arguing and Brooke storms off into the night. None of her friends go after her. The next day it is reported that Brooke never made it home. She's disappeared. Has she pulled an Alice Oglive, or is something more sinister at work?

Once again the town of Castle Cove is in an uproar. Another young girl missing. Everyone has opinions. Unfortunately, Brooke doesn't remain missing for long. She's been killed. After being notified, Brooke's wealthy grandmother swoops in, offering a hefty reward to anyone able to determine what happened to Brooke.

Alice pairs up with her teen tutor, Iris Adams, along with a small group of her misfit friends, to try to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Brooke's tragic death. Alice isn't in it for the money, but Iris certainly wouldn't turn it away.

Steve is taken into custody, the police feel he's the guy, but Alice knows that isn't true. She knows Steve couldn't kill someone. In order to prove his innocence and secure the reward money, they need to find the real killer, thus an investigation begins.

The Agathas is such a solid and fun YA Mystery. I love when teens turn into full-fledged amateur investigators and this fit that bill perfectly. The friend group that ultimately assembles itself around Alice was so sweet. She went from being the super popular girl, to an outcast, to finally finding a new place.

As far as the mystery portion goes, I thought it was really well done. The investigation was great. The girls were huge fans of mystery and true crime novels and television shows, so they incorporated a lot of what they had learned from those into their investigation.

The vibe of this reminded me a bit of [book:A Good Girl's Guide to Murder|40916679] and I was loving every minute of it. If you enjoyed that one, you should absolutely check this one out.

Also, I loved how this one ended. I am hoping, as determined from the closing paragraphs, that Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson aren't finished with this set of characters yet. There are more mysteries to solve in Castle Cove.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Delacorte, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I loved this and can't wait for more from this author duo!

This is a fun, twisty murder mystery that stands out in the YA thriller sphere. The writing jumps off the page, and the dual narrative works perfectly. Great twists, great prose, great characters.

This was a great mystery YA novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the plot kept me interested and I didn’t see the criminal coming. A story about two teens from two different backgrounds coming together to find a killer. When the police wouldn’t do a thorough investigation, they took matters into their own hands. One of my favorite genres. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Alice goes missing for five days after her boyfriend dumps her for her best friend. I love the call out to the days that Agatha Christie herself went missing.

Alice comes back obsessed with Agatha Christie novels. She needs to catch up on her school work and Iris needs the tutoring money. But Alice's best friend (the one her boyfriend left her for) goes missing too and Alice has suspicions. Cue the unlikely partnership. I love the Iris-Alice sleuth duo.

Agatha Christie is my comfort read, so this was right up my alley.

It was a quick, fun, fairly predictable read. Perfect for fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, One of us is Lying.

2.5 stars, rounded down.
This is somewhat a case of "it's not you, it's me." About 15% in I realized that I am not a fan of the "teenagers are smarter than the police" trope, which is this entire book. (Requested this because Glasgow's book "Girl in Pieces" is one of my all time faves.) There isn't really any side plot except Iris's abusive father, which is pretty much a non-factor for 95% of the book. There's no romance, and there isn't as much friendship as I expected. Even though Alice and Iris spend a lot of time together, I would describe their relationship as coworkers; they don't really seem to grow or learn anything about each other. On a similar note, Alice tells us frequently how good of friends she used to be with Brooke, but I didn't really feel like this was something we actually saw. It just felt like they would throw in "and remember, Brooke was my best friend!" to remind us. I don't think this was the intention but that shallow level of friendship feels very on brand for Alice, who is actually a very unlikable character, and I don't feel like this is ever really addressed or changed in a meaningful way. She's just spoiled and selfish, and the story of her disappearance further emphasizes those traits.
The mystery itself was alright. I didn't predict it, but it's also not anything mindblowing. I think that it's odd to title this book after Agatha Christie when it doesn't seem to have anything to do with her. Alice references her books a few times, and there are some lovely quotes of hers interspersed, but that's about it. Maybe I missed something.
Finally, two small issues that were annoying but not major factors in my rating. 1: Time stamps on each chapter should have a purpose, like to show suspicious gaps or a confusing timeline. The time stamps here did not seem to have any purpose, and if you're listening to the audiobook, they disrupt the flow. 2: The MC names are very similar when listening to the audio, and it gets confusing.

Think Nancy Drew, Scooby Doo and the Outer Banks with a darker feel.
Brooke Donovan is dead and It's the biggest mystery of the summer. The small town of Castle Cove does not have a shortage of suspects.
Alice and Iris put their Agatha Christie-like sleuthing skills to the test in this fun YA thriller. Thank you to Net Galley for the copy of this one in exchange for a review. #TheAgathas

Great collaboration between Glasgow and Lawson. Loved the Agatha Christie connection. This is one I will be nominating for 2025 Evergreen consideration.

A quick fun read for any fan of Agatha Christie. Sometimes the voices were a bit muddled when it switched POV but this YA murder mystery was a delight.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

3.5, rounded up. Definitely not a typical Glasgow book, and I hope that she returns to her rich character building and emotionally driven writing. This murder mystery felt cliche, too bogged down with teen sleuthing, and the dialogue felt like fake teen dialogue. A lot of the plot twists either happened too easily or were too much of a leap. It had potential and I was curious enough to finish it, but I found it to be problematic.

This is a YA mystery with a Veronica Mars vibe. The haves (Alice Oglive) and the have-nots (Iris Adams) come together in a search for the murderer of Alice's ex-best friend Brooke. Love this duo together as they form a friendship while trying to track down the killer. I hope there are more adventures in store for these two sleuths!

Definitely a book full of twists and turns and I believe it is a solid YA read.

The writing style didn’t totally appeal to me, so I wasn’t able to rate this 5 stars, but I think it will definitely appeal to a large majority of people, especially in the YA realm.
While Agatha pulled me in, the secondary mysteries running throughout the storyline kept me invested.

What a set of bada** friends, and I loved that underlying storyline of two unlikely people coming together and really forming a bond. It shows the power of friendship at the end of the day!

Overall, this was a great read. I’m happy I was able to read the NetGalley ARC. Thank you for the approval!!

I was excited to read this book, because I had been hearing so much about it. But sadly, I could only get about 3 pages in before I had to stop. The writing seemed like it was trying too hard, the dialogue and "inner monologue" of Alice felt like the authors were trying (but failing) to create a "cool" stereotypical rich-girl character who the readers would love to hate, and none of it felt organic. Two pages in and I was thinking, "Who is this person she just mentioned? What is this about? Is this book a part 2 of a series and I completely missed it?" I was not interested enough in Alice or what was going on to keep reading to figure out the painfully obvious ways the authors were trying to hook the readers in. When you already don't like a character after 3 pages and are not engaged enough to keep reading to find out if the character will be redeemed, you should stop reading. This book felt like middle-schoolers should be reading it. I just could not.

When Alice's ex-best friend, Brooke, disappears, no one thinks anything about it. Brooke has done this before based on what Coach Donovan says, Brooke's step-dad. Police think that Brooke is copying what happened previously when Alice disappeared for five days. Alice does not believe this is the case. She states that step-dad has been causing problems for Brooke since her mom died. Grandma is offering a reward for any information regarding Brooke's disappearance. Alice is a big Agatha Christie fan and she remembered when Ms. Christie planned her disappearance to spite her husband. May Brooke was copying Alice and Agatha's disappearance; maybe not. In a book of twists, Alice and her friends work to solve the "who-dun-it" in a very interesting way. Thanks Ms. Glasgow and Ms. Lawson, NetGalley, and Delacorte press for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own. I will be getting a copy for the classroom library.

Review being posted on my blog on June 24th, 2022

Alice Ogiville is basically a pariah after going missing last summer for a week in order to get her parent's attention. She came back on her own. But when one of Alice's ex-friends Brooke is now missing as well that's what the police think has happened. Those who saw Brooke that night think differently but don't know what to do. That is until Alice decides to start investigating and drags her tutor Iris into it as well. As Alice and Iris start piecing together what happened that night through talking to people at the party, and other items through sources they piece together what happens. Once Brooke's body is found by them, they are then rushing against the clock trying to figure out what happened and who harmed Brooke before one of their fellow students who they believe is innocent is charged with her murder.

Overall this was such a fun read. Obviously, serious things happened because someone was killed, and domestic abuse was mentioned throughout. But the relationships between Alice and Iris and how they are able to work together despite their differences and the secrets that they are both keeping. Iris's friends help out and make it so they can get into contact with their sources and occasionally provide good ideas. Little funny moments were thrown in here and there with Alice's love for Agatha Christy and Iri's friend's banter as well. There were several tense moments though because of what Alice and Iris were doing in order to find out information and do the police's job for them.

That ending wow was not expecting it to get as intense as it did but it was so good! If this does become a series I do think it will be an enjoyable one because of how well Alice and Iris worked together and how now they don't have any secrets between them that we know of.

(read a finished copy from the library)

When Alice's boyfriend Steve dumped her last summer, Alice just had to get away. The whole town searched for her, only to have Alice return unharmed five days later. So when Alice's former best friend Brooke goes missing, many think she's just a copycat. Surely it's not a coincidence that Brooke is now dating Steve, and now she's gone missing. But when Brooke's body is discovered, the town quickly realizes this is not like Alice's situation at all.

Alice pairs with an unlikely classmate, Iris, and the two of them embark on a journey to solve the mystery of Brooke's death. Chock full of twists and turns, The Agathas will appeal to fans of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. I especially loved the quotes and details from Agatha Christie novels that were fully incorporated.

Glasgow and Lawson pull off a great high school murder mystery with The Agathas. Alice and Iris could not be more different in their socioeconomic standings but after being forced together (due to a tutoring arrangement, of course!) they find motivation to become a team. Nothing like the unsolved murder of one of their classmates and knowledge that a good guy is taking the fall for it. I appreciate the way Alice and Iris aren't bosom buddies and aren't completely trustworthy as their partnership forms. There are plenty of grey area characters and, of course, lots of bumbling adults (and absentee parents) to keep these kids in possible danger throughout.
If your teens enjoyed Jessica Goodman's They Wish They Were Us they are going to enjoy this one. Glasgow is a proven favorite in our high school library and I think this "fun" murder mystery will be welcomed by her fans just as much as her emotional struggle reads.
Thanks so much to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for providing the ARC!

Last summer, Alice Ogilvie disappeared only to return after a few days. It was the biggest mystery in Castle Cove until her former best friend, Brooke Donovan disappears after a Halloween party. Alice and her tutor, Iris Adams get sucked into the mystery in a twist-filled, modern YA take inspired by the works of Agatha Christie.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an eARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

4.25/5

CWs: domestic abuse (off-page but injuries are seen and it’s referenced), people being drugged, drinking, grief, violence, murder

I really enjoyed this one! I liked the characters, the mystery, and the writing style. The mystery was so interesting, and the way the characters went about trying to unravel clues and figure out what happened was well written. It made sense, and I liked following along with Iris and Alice as they pieces things together. The twists in this book were really good. Some of them surprised me, and others I was able to figure out just before the characters did.
I thought both Alice and Iris were really good characters. Each girl has things that she’s struggling with, and I liked how they developed a friendship while solving the mystery. The book is told in dual first-person POVs between Alice and Iris. Their voices were distinct and I wasn’t confused by switching between them. I also liked that the authors would have text conversations between other characters, transcripts of interviews, social media posts and comments, and news reports. I thought this helped to round out the story.
The pacing was really good, and things felt like they were moving even when Iris and Alice didn’t know where to go next.
Overall this was a really good YA mystery with awesome characters.