This British import is back with a second mystery. To be honest, I had never read Book One—THE SECRET KEY—but I had no problem getting into this new adventure.
Lena Jones was not an author I’d come across in all my MG reading. I did a little research and discovered she’s fictional just like the series. Written by a team of many writers, the result is a collaborative effort similar to what is used in television script writing.
Told in first person through the eyes of Agatha Oddlow (Oddly is the name she is often called at school). Agatha is a 13-year-old detective who lives with her father in London. Mom is gone after being killed in a suspicious bike accident. Agatha wants to find out the truth. At the same time she’s sticking her nose into a murder investigation at the British Museum and trying to gain acceptance into a secret Guild—an underground group of detectives who work to solve and prevent crime.
Her two best friends provide support while her father remains mostly clueless to all of Agatha’s sleuthing. The London locale is welcome as is the direction of the plot, deftly dropping in clues along the way. Great escapism for young and old readers alike.
THE OFFICIAL BLURB (From Harper Collins)
Agatha Oddlow’s set to become the youngest member of the Gatekeepers’ Guild, but before that, she’s got a mystery to solve!
There’s been a murder at the British Museum and, although the police are investigating, Agatha suspects that they’re missing a wider plot going on below London – a plot involving a disused Tube station, a huge fireworks display, and five thousand tonnes of gold bullion…
FIVE MORE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT
AGATHA ODDLY MURDER AT THE MUSEUM
by LENA JONES
1. Agatha is the perfect teen heroine sure to appeal to both boys and girls. She has the same worries many tweens and teens have even though they aren’t fighting off crime below the streets of London.
2. Her namesake is Agatha Christie and it made for a welcome connection of the famous writer’s Detective Poirot into Agatha’s thoughts.
3. Although parents may cringe at the amount of freedom Agatha has to roam around by herself, it will only endear her more to the intended audience.
4. The urge to visit London will be strong after reading this one.
5. The series will continue as at least one plot point is waiting to be solved. THE SILVER SERPENT will be out in June of 2020.
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I received a copy of the book for my honest review. Comments are welcome below.
Always in the Middle... 
I love London, so I’ll have to be careful reading this one. My students are always looking for more mysteries.
I’m really into mysteries these days so I’ll be sure to check this series out. Thanks.
This sounds like a great mystery! I’ve never seen a book that was written by a team of authors that wasn’t some kind of anthology, so this book sounds especially interesting! Thanks for the great review!
I loved good mysteries in my youth — and still do. I love that her namesake is Agatha Christie. And like Karen, I love London, so this would appeal to me. A lot of the series of books we read as kids had many ghost authors.
It has a London setting and nods to Christie and Poirot! This sounds right up my alley. I love the trend of having MG sleuths with ties to classic mystery writers. This sounds like fun–and a great way to virtually visit London.
Mysteries are always popular with my sixth graders. This series sounds fun and well written. Thanks for the background information.
I love a good mystery! I recently saw this cover and was curious about the book. Glad to learn more about it here and I am sure I will want to go to London! 🙂
I do love a good mystery and books set in London are a bonus. Thanks for telling me about this one.
Sounds fun! It doesn’t take much for me to want to go visit London. (But, it’s a little far away.) I like the connection to Agatha Christie!
This looks like such a fun book! I just watched an Agatha Christie movie, so I’m in the mood for more mystery.
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