Robin Stevens's Blog, page 15

Death Sets Sail Article Round-Up

I’m back from my holidays, and catching up on all of your messages and emails. It’s so nice to hear that you’ve been enjoying Death Sets Sail – and so lovely to read all of the mentions it’s been getting in the press!

Imogen Russell Williams chose Death Sets Sail for her Guardian round-up last weekend. She calls it:

A triumphant conclusion to a satisfying, wide-ranging series that deserves to be read for years to come.

Imogen Russell Williams, The Guardian, 29th August 2020

Alice Nuttall also mentions Death Sets Sail in her list of Eight Kids’ Books with Best Friend Teams for Book Riot, saying:

as well as being one of the most brilliant homages to the work of Agatha Christie that I’ve ever seen, it’s a wonderful, if bittersweet, conclusion to the story of two best friends who’ve gone through so much together.

Alice Nuttall, Book Riot, 31st August 2020

And Surrey County Council has picked Death Sets Sail as one of its September Top Ten Reads!

Murder Most Unladylike in Huffington Post India

There have been some wonderful mentions of Death Sets Sail and the Murder Most Unladylike series while I’ve been away – and I think one of my very favourites is this absolutely incredible article about the series by Anannya Baruah.

It’s a long read, and I think a very worthwhile one. Anannya gets into so many of the themes and ideas I wanted to explore in the books, and I feel so honoured that she sees the series in such a complex and interesting way. She writes so beautifully about the series ending, too – I got a bit teary more than once!

“It feels strange to say goodbye to Wells and Wong at a time when a global pandemic has changed everything about the world as we used to know it, but I also envy anyone—young or old—who picks up these books for the first time.”

Anannya Baruah, Huffington Post India, 22nd August 2020

Writing Prompt Mondays: Prompt 21

Hello Detectives! I hope you’ve had a good few weeks. I’ve been on holiday, playing with Howl the puppy and reading lots of amazing books – expect a video about my favourites in September! I’m not officially back until later this week, so although I’m setting you this prompt now, I haven’t yet had the chance to read your stories from Prompt 20 and pick my favourites. Check back here later to see what they are!

This prompt was suggested by Detective Society member and regular prompt participant Xydel, who wanted to see a romantic theme. So for this week, I’d like you to write a story with a romance!

Your romance can be between anyone – characters you’ve made up, people from your favourite book or film, historical figures … You can have a love triangle, a hopeless romance or a requited passion. Your lovers can get together, stay together or break up. But if your characters do realise they love each other by the end of the story, keep it to kissing only please, as this will be read by Detective Society Members of all ages.

The rules …

It can be as long or as short as you like, and take you as much or as little time as you want.It can be any genre (type) of story you want. If you have an idea for something that I haven’t mentioned (writing a poem! Being inspired by a song you love! Writing non-fiction!), don’t wait for my permission – just go for it! This is your creativity working!You are not allowed to worry about grammar or spelling.You are not allowed to worry if it isn’t perfect, or criticise yourself as you’re writing.You are encouraged to make a plan before you begin, to make it easier for you to get to the end of the story. This can be two words or a whole page! But if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.Get to the end of the story without stopping to go back and fix bits you don’t like. Once you’ve finished, read it through again. If you still don’t like those bits, you can edit them now!If you want (and only if you want!) you’re allowed to post the first 500 words of your story in the comments below. I have to moderate the comments so it may take a while for them to show up – please be patient. I don’t want to see you apologising for your story or minimising what you’ve done when you post – writing a story is a triumph and you should be proud!Please do not use your full name when you comment – first names are fine, or you can make up a username that you like! Also remember to stay safe online and not get into private discussions with anyone you don’t know in real life without telling an adult first.If you like someone else’s story, you are allowed to comment to say so! If you’d like to give them ideas that might make their story even stronger, that’s OK, but please be kind and remember how deeply we all care about our writing. A good format for feedback might be something like: ‘I loved ****! Have you thought of ****? I think it might make your story even better!’ I will delete any comment if I feel it’s critical without being constructive.I can’t promise to give feedback on any individual stories – I’m not marking them!This isn’t a competition, and there will be no winners and no prizes, though I may choose a story or two to highlight in future posts.

Good luck, Detectives, and remember: all’s fair in love and war …

Death Sets Sail on Down the Rabbit Hole!

I’m still on holiday this week, but I’m stopping by to share something fun with you – I was featured on the Down the Rabbit Hole children’s books podcast along with fellow crime writer Sharna Jackson!

Our episode is up now, and it’s all about crime fiction, our books (Sharna writes the High Rise Mystery series) and our writing tips. We’re interviewed by host and mystery author Katherine Woodfine, whose latest book, Villains in Venice, I’ve actually just finished reading. So listen in now – and I’ll be back in September!

Writing Prompt Mondays: Prompt 20

I can’t believe this is the twentieth prompt, Detectives! Amazing! I’m really glad to see how much you’re enjoying these, and I definitely want to keep going with them, although I may switch to once every two weeks or once a month soon.

First of all, as you may have noticed the website has been updated to a new look! I love it, but it does seem like it’s made Prompt 19 revert to an earlier draft, where I hadn’t chosen my favourites – I’ve done my best to put everything back the way it was but if your name has vanished from that post that’s why. Sorry!

Death Sets Sail has been out in the world for a week, and it’s been absolutely incredible to hear your thoughts on it. I’m so honoured that you’ve all seemed to enjoy it so much – thank you!

Of course, you’ve also been working on your own stories under the theme of new beginnings – and what you wrote was fantastic! I really loved Polly’s Pandora’s Box retelling, Sasha’s story about Detective Henry’s first day, Erin’s story about next steps and Niamh’s new friends story.

For your twentieth prompt, I’ve once again been inspired by a Detective Society member: Kaia, who suggested the prompt fairy tales. I think that’s a great idea, and it gives you a lot to work with. You can retell a famous fairy tale from a different character’s perspective, or with a different ending, you can have a character from one fairy tale break into another, you can create your own entirely new fairy tale or twist up the concept of fairy tales into a mystery or a horror story – anything you want!

I’m about to go on holiday for two weeks, to take a break after the excitement of the Death Sets Sail launch, so once again this prompt will run for TWO WEEKS instead of the usual one.

And once again, please remember that if you HAVE read Death Sets Sail, this is NOT the place to post spoilers about it. My spoiler post is here, and that’s the ONLY place that I’ll allow you to share thoughts on Death Sets Sail‘s plot. Any spoilery comments here or on other posts will be deleted.

The rules …

It can be as long or as short as you like, and take you as much or as little time as you want.It can be any genre (type) of story you want. If you have an idea for something that I haven’t mentioned (writing a poem! Being inspired by a song you love! Writing non-fiction!), don’t wait for my permission – just go for it! This is your creativity working!You are not allowed to worry about grammar or spelling.You are not allowed to worry if it isn’t perfect, or criticise yourself as you’re writing.You are encouraged to make a plan before you begin, to make it easier for you to get to the end of the story. This can be two words or a whole page! But if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.Get to the end of the story without stopping to go back and fix bits you don’t like. Once you’ve finished, read it through again. If you still don’t like those bits, you can edit them now!If you want (and only if you want!) you’re allowed to post the first 500 words of your story in the comments below. I have to moderate the comments so it may take a while for them to show up – please be patient. I don’t want to see you apologising for your story or minimising what you’ve done when you post – writing a story is a triumph and you should be proud!Please do not use your full name when you comment – first names are fine, or you can make up a username that you like! Also remember to stay safe online and not get into private discussions with anyone you don’t know in real life without telling an adult first.If you like someone else’s story, you are allowed to comment to say so! If you’d like to give them ideas that might make their story even stronger, that’s OK, but please be kind and remember how deeply we all care about our writing. A good format for feedback might be something like: ‘I loved ****! Have you thought of ****? I think it might make your story even better!’ I will delete any comment if I feel it’s critical without being constructive.I can’t promise to give feedback on any individual stories – I’m not marking them!This isn’t a competition, and there will be no winners and no prizes, though I may choose a story or two to highlight in future posts.

Here’s to new beginnings, Detectives …

Death Sets Sail is Irish News Children’s Book of the Week!

More good news for Death Sets Sail – it’s been picked as the Irish News Children’s Book of the week! Nicole Whitton says:

THIS is a thrilling end to the Murder Most Unladylike series, joining Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong on their holiday cruise along the Nile. A grisly murder is never far from this pair, and within days of boarding they’re unpacking the twists and turns of a cult leader’s untimely demise before their boat docks in Aswan. Fortunately, the Junior Pinkertons happen to be onboard too, so there are four detective minds working the case – and a few extra characters who help this instalment feel fresh and well rounded. Emotional challenges are also explored as the girls leave their childhoods behind. Ending an award-winning series can be a challenge, but Robin Stevens delivers a clever murder mystery that sucks the reader in and pays homage to queen of crime, Agatha Christie. This is a fantastic read that should please fans, and anyone new to the series will still find it thoroughly readable. 9/10

Nicole Whitton, Irish News, 12th August 2020

Death Sets Sail is sailing up the charts!

Exciting news, Detectives: the numbers are in, and Death Sets Sail is floating at the very top of the charts!

It’s the NUMBER ONE paperback in the UK, it’s NUMBER FOUR overall in the UK children’s and YA chart (in the week that we got a new Stephenie Meyer and a new Jeff Kinney) and it’s NUMBER TWELVE of all books sold in the UK. That’s ALL books, not just kids!

I’m so overwhelmed and so delighted – thank you to every single person who bought a book last week. You helped Daisy and Hazel’s last adventure soar!

Host your own Detective Society Forever party!

Death Sets Sail is out now – and my publisher Puffin thought you might want to celebrate that fact!

They’ve put together a (socially distanced) party pack to help you and your friends wave goodbye to the series in style. Click here to download everything you need – and if you want to solve an actual (made up!) murder mystery, click here for the Murder at Rivets and Gripps game!

Enjoy – and I hope you and your friends are having fun talking about Death Sets Sail!

Death Sets Sail is the Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week!

Nicolette Jones at the Sunday Times has chosen Death Sets Sail as her children’s book of the week! She says:

‘the story unfolds neatly and is satisfyingly twisty. It has a strong sense of place … and two budding romances, and explores the powerful bonds of friendship as girls grow up.’

I’m so thrilled to see Death Sets Sail recognised like this – thank you Nicolette! You can find the whole review online or in today’s paper – I haven’t shared a picture of the whole thing as it contains that first-chapter spoiler I’ve told you about, and I’m still trying to make sure that if you’re staying totally spoiler-free you won’t be confronted with it!

Death Sets Sail review – Hannah’s Book Reviews

Reviews for Death Sets Sail are starting to roll in – and I’m so thrilled to see how positive readers are being!

Blogger Hannah has been reviewing all of the books in the series – like a lot of fans, Hannah has been reading the series since Murder Most Unladylike first came out, and it’s been wonderful to see how her views on the books have changed since she first read them.

She’s now put up her (spoiler free) review of Death Sets Sail, and she says:

At the end of a series, you want a big finish. Something to make the series go out with a bang. Well, Robin Stevens did just that with Death Sets Sail. Packed with suspense throughout, and unimaginable twists and turns, Death Sets Sail was without a doubt the best book in the Murder Most Unladylike series.

Thanks so much, Hannah – and thanks to everyone who’s let me know their thoughts on the final book in the series! Remember that if you’ve FINISHED Death Sets Sail and you want to talk about it with other fans, head to the Spoiler Post – don’t post comments here where people who haven’t read the book yet can see!