Mystery & Mayhem
About this ebook
Twelve mysteries.
Twelve authors.
One challenge: can YOU solve the crimes before the heroes of the stories?
These are twelve brand-new short stories from twelve of the best children's crime writers writing today.
These creepy, hilarious, brain-boggling, heart-pounding mysteries feature daring, brilliant young detectives, and this anthology is a must for fans of crime fiction and detection, especially the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries, The Roman Mysteries and The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow.
The Crime Club are twelve UK-based authors who are mad about crime fiction. Clementine Beauvais, Elen Caldecott, Susie Day, Julia Golding, Frances Hardinge, Caroline Lawrence, Helen Moss, Sally Nicholls, Kate Pankhurst, Robin Stevens, Harriet Whitehorn and Katherine Woodfine can be found anywhere there is a mystery to be solved, a puzzle to be cracked or a bun to be eaten, and they are always ready for the next puzzling case.
About the author
Katherine Woodfine was born in Lancashire. She studied English at Bristol University and in 2005 she was highly commended in Vogue magazine’s annual Talent Competition for young writers. Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem is the thrilling 'The Mystery of the Purloined Pearls'.
Julia Golding is a multi-award winning writer for children and young adults. She also writes under the pen names of Joss Stirling and Eve Edwards. Well over half a million of her books have been sold worldwide in more than twenty different languages. Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, 'Mel Foster and the Hound of the Baskervilles' features a guest appearance from Sherlock Holmes.
Frances Hardinge is the author of seven novels for children, including the 2015 Costa Book of the Year, The Lie Tree. Her debut novel, Fly by Night, won the 2006 Branford Boase Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Frances’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘God’s Eye’, is a wonderfully sinister Victorian thriller featuring hot air balloons and secret poisonings.
Robin Stevens is highly experienced in writing about mystery and mayhem, being the author of the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries series. Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem is an Agatha Christie-style puzzler called ‘The Mystery of Room 12’. Robin lives in London.
Clementine Beauvais is an academic and writer of children’s books. She is currently lecturer at the University of York where she researches childhood and education. Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem is ‘The Mystery of the Green Room’, described by Katherine Woodfine as ‘a brain-boggling Agatha-Christie style puzzle that even Miss Marple might struggle to solve’.
Elen Caldecott started her literary career when she was very young, writing sequels to some of her favourite books because she couldn’t bear to say goodbye to the characters. Before becoming a published author, Elen worked as an archaeologist, a nurse, a theatre usher and a museum security guard. Her first book was How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant. Elen Caldecott’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘Rain on My Parade’, is a deliciously complex modern day puzzler.
Born in Wales, Susie Day moved to Oxford to read English Literature at Oxford University and continues to live in Oxford now she’s a children’s writer. Her novels for children include Big Woo!, Girl Meets Cake, and The Secret of Sam and Sam. Susie’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘Emily and the Detectives’, is about the capable Emily who outsmarts her detective dad, Mr Black, and the clueless Lord Copperbole.
Caroline Lawrence was born in London but grew up in the United States before returning to the UK to study at Cambridge. Caroline is a big fan of mystery fiction, having written The Roman Mysteries, series of historical novels for children. Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘The Mystery of Diablo Canyon Circle’, has a hint of the American Wild West.
Helen Moss began writing for children in 2007. Her books include the Adventure Island and Secrets of the Tombs series. Helen was born in Worcestershire. After a degree in Psychology and Philosophy, she went on to study for a PhD in psycholinguistics at Cambridge. Her short story in Mystery & Mayhem, ‘The Mystery of the Pineapple Plot’, is an exciting Georgian country house mystery.
Acclaimed author Sally Nicholls has written several novels for children, including Ways to Live Forever, Shadow Girl, and Season of Secrets. She has won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Dimplex New Writer of the Year Award. Her short story in Mystery & Mayhem is ‘Safe Keeping’, a tribute to Boy’s Own-style adventures.
Harriet Whitehorn lives in London with her husband and her three daughters. She currently works for English Heritage and is the author of the Violet and the Pearl of the Orient series. Harriet’s contribution to Mystery & Mayhem, ‘The Murder of Monsieur Pierre’, is set on the streets of 1870s Soho.
Kate Pankhurst has an MA in Children's Book Illustration. She has illustrated books by Ian Whybrow (author of 'The Bedtime Bear' and 'The Tickle Book') and Marjorie Newman ('Mole and the Baby Bird'). Her contribution to Mystery & Mayhem introduces a brilliant, quick thinking young sleuth, Sid the dog walker.