Robin Stevens's Blog, page 53

Arsenic for Tea has a Taiwanese cover!

I’ve had a really wonderful week of foreign edition news. The German edition of Arsenic for Tea is on its way, I’m about to reveal the cover of the American edition First Class Murder (stay tuned!) … and the Taiwanese cover of Arsenic for Tea just arrived in my inbox.

I adored the Taiwanese Murder Most Unladylike cover – it’s totally unlike the British edition, and totally brilliant – and its follow-up does not disappoint. In fact, I think I love it even more.

Look at it! The watch! The broken teacup! The perfect scone (the artist must be from Cornwall). I am a very happy author, and I can’t wait to see the finished book.

Fan letters – Spring 2016

Being an author is a wonderful job – I get to spend all day in my own made-up worlds – but I think my favourite thing about it is hearing from my readers.

I read my emails fairly regularly – if you’ve sent me an email, I will usually reply to it in a week or two – but I only get author letters sent to me from my publisher about once every three months.

Opening that bundle of post is basically AUTHOR CHRISTMAS for me (see how lucky I am? I get Christmas FIVE times a year, counting actual Christmas), and each time it happens I am more impressed than ever at how clever, thoughtful and talented you are. I know how much time you put into what you send me, and that’s why I take time to reply to each one of you. I also keep each one of your letters (there’s a big folder in my filing cabinet called FAN LETTERS).

Below is just a selection of my favourite things from this batch – from now on, I’ve decided to share a selection of your fan creations on this website, to thank you properly for what you sent me! Please note that I’ll never share your last names or addresses here – Detective Society policy is to keep the identities of its members secret!

I am so proud to have inspired you to write your own books, and to create your own detective societies. Please keep the letters coming! I never feel any less honoured and delighted to hear from you.

Murder Most Unladylike covers by Ruby

Four Detective Society Members by Sylvia

Envelope by Arya

Murder Most Unladylike Lettering by Sarah

Magnifying glass by Erin

Owl by Emma

Selfie by Daisy

Lovely wax stamp from best friends Edie and Harper

Erin drew me characters from a new, original story she is planning!

Ruby and Imogen both drew pictures of Watson!

 

The London Eye Mystery – my introduction!

As you may have already heard, I’m currently writing the sequel to Siobhan Dowd’s wonderful The London Eye Mystery. I’m about half way through the first draft of The Guggenheim Mystery (more on that below), and the book will publish in August 2017. We’re currently working on a cover, as well, so keep watching this site for more information in the coming months!

As part of the celebrations for The London Eye Mystery‘s ten year anniversary, Puffin are releasing a new edition of the paperback. It’s absolutely the same story in every way – but it has a brand-new introduction written by me!

Some introductions to books spoil their plots, which I think is an extremely un-detectivelike thing to do, so I can promise you now that I give nothing away – it’s just my recommendation of an excellent book that I think you should all read. I’m so proud to have been asked to do this (I got a little teary when I saw my name on the back cover of a book that I love so much), and I hope you like what I’ve written!

The new edition will be out on 1st September 2016 in book stores, but you can pre-order now from Waterstones, Amazon and Blackwell’s.

And about that sequel … as I said above, I’m about halfway through the first draft of The Guggenheim Mystery, at the bothersome place where the story feels a lot like a large knot that I’ve been asked to untie with my teeth. I’m not telling you this to cause you (or my editor) anxiety – from previous experience, I know that as I keep working, the knot will untie – but because I get quite a few emails from people telling me that they’ve run out of inspiration half way through a story, and worrying that means they don’t have what it takes.

I am here to tell you not to worry. If you have this problem, it means that you are a writer.

What you need to do (and what I am currently doing) is re-plan, re-read and work out the moment in your story where the thing went wrong; where someone found something out at the wrong time, or met the wrong person, or went to the wrong place. Change it. Then you can knock those changes forward, until you reach the part of your story where you had to stop before – and this time, miraculously, you’ll be able to keep going. The key is not to give up, no matter how much you may want to.

So good luck unknotting your story knots. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got one of my own to untie …

Hazel and Daisy arrive in Germany!

Today is Murder Most Unladylike‘s German book birthday!

It’s been titled Mord ist nicht für junge Damen, which translates as Murder is Not For Young Ladies (which I love). The series title is Ein Fall für Wells & Wong (A Case for Wells & Wong), and it’s translated by Nadine Mannchen.

It’s being published by Knesebeck Verlag, who have been absolutely fantastic supporters of the series. They’ve made incredible promotional material (I’ve never had Murder Most Unladylike post-its before!), and they’ve given it a gorgeous double-page spread in their catalogue. I can’t thank them enough for bringing my book to Germany in such style!

If you’d like to buy it, you can do that here.

I hope that German readers will enjoy Daisy and Hazel’s adventures just as much as British readers do. I’m so proud of how far this book is spreading – my Murder Most Unladylike family keeps on growing!

Announcement: I’m writing the London Eye Mystery sequel!

Part of being an author is learning how to keep quiet about exciting news. Some of it I’m allowed to let people know a bit about – like the cover and title reveal for book 5 (it’s going to be called Mistletoe and Murder, it’s coming on October 20th this year, and you can see the cover HERE) – and some I have to keep absolutely secret.

So I can only now tell you that I’ve been keeping a very big secret for a VERY long time – because I’m allowed to let it out at last!

I know that a lot of you are already fans of Siobhan Dowd’s The London Eye Mystery, a story about a boy called Ted whose cousin Salim mysteriously goes missing while riding the London Eye. It’s a book that I recommend all the time, and it’s coming up to its 10th anniversary next year. Siobhan was an absolutely brilliant writer, and when she wrote The London Eye Mystery she always meant to write its sequel. Tragically, she died before she could begin it, and her Trust has been looking for an author to carry on Ted’s amazing story ever since. And last year … they asked if I’d like to do it!

The scene of the first crime!

Ted is very different to Hazel (for starters, he’s from 2007, not 1935!), but he’s a brilliant detective and a wonderful narrator – if you haven’t already, go read The London Eye Mystery. I think you’ll love it! I’m such a big fan that I recently took a trip on the London Eye myself with a certain mysterious book …

Riding the Eye with a very special book!

The Guggenheim Mystery (that’s its name) is going to be a book about a mystery, just like The London Eye Mystery – but it feels as though it’s already a mystery in itself. All I have to go on are the three words of the title, and from those I have to guess what Siobhan might have been imagining, and where she wanted to take the characters she created in The London Eye Mystery. It’s an honour, and I’m so excited to sit down and take on the challenge of creating a brand new New York mystery story. But it’s also a big responsibility. I know I need to get this book right – Siobhan is a huge act to follow, and I’m going to do my best to create something that I think she’d be happy with. I’m going to be working very hard on the manuscript over the next few months – keep checking back here, and on my Twitter and Instagram, for my progress!

The Guggenheim Mystery will be published in August 2017, 10 years after The London Eye Mystery was first released. Murder Most Unladylike 6 will be out in the winter of 2017 – but if you think you won’t be able to wait until then, we’ve got you covered! A lot of you have been asking when the short stories I’ve been writing will be available in a book, and I’m delighted to say that the answer is: April 2017! We are creating the first ever Murder Most Unladylike bumper book, featuring the three short stories I’ve already written (Lavinia’s Missing Tie, Blue Violet and Deepdean Vampire), two BRAND NEW short stories, and loads of puzzles, activities, recipes, quizzes and much more. It should satisfy even the most ardent Deepdean fan! It’s going to be called Cream Buns and Crime, and I’ll be working on it this autumn.

I’ve got a busy six months ahead of me, and I can’t wait to get started!

Book 5 – Title and Cover Reveal!

You’ve all been so patient – but the time is finally here. Today we’re finally revealing BOTH the title AND the cover for the book formerly known as Murder Most Unladylike Book 5.

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Here goes …

The book will be called …

MISTLETOE AND MURDER

And its stunning cover, by Nina Tara, is below:

It’s Christmas in July! Look at those coats, and the fairy lights! Look at the mince pies!

As you can tell from that cover, Mistletoe and Murder will be Hazel and Daisy’s first Christmas adventure. This time they’re in snowy Cambridge, visiting Daisy’s brother Bertie at Maudlin College. But something’s not right at Maudlin, and when the girls hear stories about a series of dangerous pranks they decide to investigate. Except they’re not the only detectives on the case. Alexander (remember him from First Class Murder?) and his best friend George are also in Cambridge – together they’re the Junior Pinkertons, and they’re determined to solve the mystery before the Detective Society.

What happens next? That would be telling. But I can promise mince pies, mistletoe and plenty of murder.

Mistletoe and Murder will be out on 20th October, and you can pre-order it NOW from Waterstones, WH Smith, Blackwell’s, Hive and Amazon. So, what are you waiting for? It’s only 96 days until Murder Most Unladylike Christmas!

Save

Save

Save

Save

The Case of the Deepdean Vampire

I’ve got a lot of really exciting news to share with you this month – I’ll be revealing the cover and the title for Murder Most Unladylike Book 5 in just a few weeks! But today I’ve got an exciting update about the second Murder Most Unladylike Mini Mystery, which will be coming out in the UK and Ireland on the 8th of September 2016.

Just like the first Mini Mystery, The Case of the Blue Violet, it’s going to be available as an ebook only for the time being, and just like Blue Violet it’s not a full-length murder mystery, just a 5,000 word short story about a smaller mystery. It’s narrated by Daisy again, and takes place after the end of Jolly Foul Play, so it’s the perfect thing to tide you over until Book 5 publishes in October!

Because it’s publishing quite close to Halloween it’s got a lot of supernatural elements – there are ghosts, werewolves and (of course) the Deepdean Vampire herself …

Today I’m able to reveal its gorgeous cover, below. It’s another stunning job by the talented Nina Tara – I love that I’ve got a book with a creepy ghost-story candle on its cover! Its official description is also below. I can’t wait for you all to read it – I’m a huge Dracula fan, and I had an amazing time working vampires into a story about Hazel & Daisy!

Of all the mysteries that Hazel and I have investigated, the Case of the Deepdean Vampire was one of the strangest. It was not a murder, which was a pity – but I did solve it very cleverly, and so I decided it ought to be written down, so that other people could read it and be impressed.

Camilla Badescu is in the fifth form, and has pale skin, dark hair and red lips. She comes from Romania (which is practically Transylvania). She doesn’t eat at meals. And she seemed to have an unhealthy influence over another pupil, Amy Jessop. Now, I do not believe in vampires – I am the Honourable Daisy Wells, after all. But when I heard the rumour that Camilla was seen climbing head-first down a wall, I knew it was time to investigate…

You can pre-order The Case of the Deepdean Vampire from Amazon now – and it’ll be coming to your Kindles on 8th September!

Save

Deal Announcement – Daisy and Hazel are taking on Poland!

Some great news for my detective duo today: we’ve sold Polish language rights to Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic for Tea to Grupa MAC S.A!

This is the seventh territory the books will be published in (I’m guessing at some time in 2017) – Daisy and Hazel’s adventures are also on their way (or already available) in America, France, Germany, Italy, Vietnam and Taiwan.

I’m so proud of my globetrotting heroines, and I hope Polish readers will love Daisy and Hazel as much as I do!

Poison is Not Polite – SLJ Review

Remember I said that Poison is Not Polite has had two wonderful new reviews? The first was from Shelf Awareness, and here’s the second, from School Library Journal!

Lisa Nabel says: ‘Detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are back to solve another mystery, but this one hits a little closer to home for Daisy. While on school break, bossy Daisy and levelheaded Hazel are staying at Daisy’s family home, where her mother is throwing Daisy a children’s birthday tea party. Fourteen-year-old Daisy is appalled that she is having such a childish fete, especially since her mother has invited family, school friends, and her “gentleman friend” Mr. Curtis. The house is full of suspects when, during the party, Mr. Curtis is poisoned and later dies. Mr. Curtis is truly an unlikable individual, so the list of suspects is large, and most are people Daisy has known her whole life. Daisy and Hazel’s skills are tested as they narrow down the list of possible murderers. The countryside has flooded, and the arrival of the police is delayed by days. Daisy and Hazel’s unlikely friendship balances out the strengths and weaknesses of their personalities; Daisy is pushy and clever, while Hazel is cautious and practical. VERDICT An English import with a good mystery that will keep readers’ attention, this second volume of the trilogy is strong enough to be a standalone title.’

Poison is Not Polite – Shelf Awareness Review

We’ve had a few more lovely reviews of Poison is Not Polite (the US edition of Arsenic for Tea)! The first is from Shelf Awareness, in a review called (wonderfully) The Pleasure of Cosy-Dangerous.

Ali Davis writes:

‘It’s just a few steps from the cozy-dangerous boarding school of Harry Potter to the cozy-dangerous drawing rooms of classic British murder mysteries, via the witty, thoughtfully plotted middle-grade Wells & Wong novels. Robin Stevens’s series, originally published in England, follows the two brightest students of Deepdean, an isolated 1930s girls’ school.

The first two books, Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic for Tea, have been released in the United States by Simon & Schuster with some light vocabulary changes for an American audience–they’ve been re-titled Murder Is Bad Manners and Poison Is Not Polite, respectively–and the U.S. versions retain their agreeable British flavor.

Daisy Wells, the 13-year-old self-appointed president of the Wells and Wong Detective Society, takes the Sherlock Holmes role, chasing her cases “like a dog after a rabbit” and, she claims, the pure facts. But narrator Hazel Wong is often just as keen an observer, and she never loses sight of death’s awful emotional costs.

Wong comes from Hong Kong, and she brings a welcome perspective as an outsider explaining the quirks of boarding-school life, such as the importance of “bunbreak” and of sometimes failing at lessons so as not to be a “swot.” She’s also frank about the difficulties of being best friends with the tall, blonde and beautiful Daisy, something many junior-high girls will identify with.

Though solving the crime is always the bottom line, Stevens’s books satisfyingly explore the forging of a friendship between the two girls, and quietly make the point that adulthood involves facing uncomfortable facts. Even if you’re an adult fan of classic mysteries, these lightly gruesome tales are highly enjoyable bunbreak reading.’

I’m really delighted to see my books getting more recognition in the States – thank you so much to Ali and Shelf Awareness!