The Very Merry Murder Club is an outstanding anthology of middle grade crime stories by a wonderful range of authors.

Diversity has clearly been a priority when selecting authors for this book, and it is very much a strength of the finished piece. It's definitely not at the cost of quality though. Every single one of these authors is there on their own merit and they have all produced really excellent stories. For every bigot and racist who's ever said "Well, they should write their own books then!" here is proof that they can and do. It's absolutely a joy to see the wealth of diverse talent we currently have working in middle grade fiction showcased like this.

There are characters in here from a wide range of different ethnic backgrounds, a couple of characters who are neuro-diverse, a character with a prosthetic leg, one with two dads, a kid from a foster home. The range of representation is really a marvel. And although it has clearly been thought through, and a key aim of the anthology, it all feels natural and not forced. Each character has earned their place in these stories and belongs there. I'm sure it'll have a positive impact on a lot of children who might see elements of themselves or their family or their classmates and friends within the pages of this book.

There is also a great range of story types, though all bear the crime tag. Benjamin Dean gives us a really haunting tale of horror in The Ticking Funhouse. Dominique Valente takes us to a fantasy world trapped in winter and haunted by a grim beast in The Frostwilds. In Ice and Fire, Joanna Williams gives us a historical short story, set amid the frost fairs of London in 1776, while Maisie Chan gives us an incredible comic piece about living with a cat-burglar mother who gets stolen in It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief, and Abiola Bello writes a fun heist story featuring a dance troupe trying to steal a trophy they feel rightly belongs to them, The Christmas Heist.

Despite the title, one thing this anthology is light on is actual murders. There are only four stories out of the thirteen that deal with actual murders. Elle McNicoll opens the anthology really strongly with Shoe-Dunnit, as an autistic young detective puts her skills to use solving the murder of a ballerina in a Scottish hotel. Nizrana Farook creates some absolutely, brilliantly awful hotel managers in Scrabble and Murder. E. L. Norry gives us a death on a ski slope to solve in the school-trip based mystery, No Piste for the Wicked and Sharna Jackson closes the anthology with a really intriguing mystery, The Cove(n) at Christmas.

But as well as murder, we have sabotage to stop in Annabelle Sami's The Beast of Bedleywood, a villainous mastermind trying to ruin Christmas in It's Snow Crime by Roopa Farooki, Patrice Lawrence's Cool for Cats gives us a very interesting little puzzle in a house where the owner has gone away and Serena Patel's Silent Night is a middle grade mystery heavily influenced by Hitchcock's Rear Window.

There's something here for every one, a brilliant range of stories in different styles with different kinds of representation, and so, so many mysteries to solve!

A brilliant collection of middle grade crime stories!

Great selection of stories all with a festive theme, by many of the most popular authors among the older readers at our school. Recommended.

Great make up of authors in this book. some i have read before and some that are new to me.
This book was a real treat with lots of different stories in.
There is definitely a story in this book for everyone.

This is a wonderful collection of wintery crime stories, well worth a read.

The first story was about a young girl, Briar, whose parents run a ski resort, and where a death occurs which she tries to get to the bottom of……they’re all reasonably short stories, so excellent for kids who don’t want to sit down for long, or a bedtime read, and they’re all enjoyable!

My thanks to Netgalley and Farshore/Electric Monkey for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

A fantastic collection of crime stories by some of the best authors writing for young people at the moment. The stories range from murder, to finding lost treasures, but they are all very readable and make for a brilliant book to just dip into. It has to get 5 stars.

A great collection of short stories, for fans of the Robin Stevens murder series. My daughter absolutely loved these and whizzed through it, despite never reading short stories before. Great fun.

This was a really great collection of 13 mysteries with a wonderfully diverse range of characters. Each one worked well and I liked that they were quite varied in mystery type and settings. as with any short story collection, there were some I like more than others, but there were none that I felt didn't work. A couple of stand out stories for me were Shoe Dunnit, Scrabble and Murder and the darkly sinister The Ticking Funhouse. It's a great book for trying out authors I hadn't read before and generally a lot of fun to read.

I was so beyond excited to read this book and it was for sure one of my most anticipated releases of 2021, it's safe to say I was very disappointed in this book. I was mainly excited because this collection is edited by one of my favourite middle grade authors and featured stories from a lot of authors that I've been excited to read books from.

I think that a lot of the stories would have worked quite well as full length novels but fell very flat in the short story format. I also didn't appreciate that some of the short stories where set within book series that the authors had already wrote which meant that the short story didn't really make sense to somebody who hadn't read their other books. I can see why people would enjoy this book but it just wasn't for me.

Anything that involves Elle McNicoll is going to be brilliant! The diversity in this book was fab and there was a great variety of stories. Naturally, I like some more than others - be that writing style, characters or plot - but overall they were great and while festive themed, it wasn't so overwhelming that you could only read this in the weeks around christmas!

If you fancy an alternative to a novel, then this collection of short stories is a Christmas corker. Full of mystery, sleuthing and suspense, each tale is a present waiting to be unwrapped. Who killed the ballerina? Can the funhouse be defeated? And what is the key to destroying the Gelidbeast?

Edited by mystery writers Serena Patel and Robin Stevens, there is something for everyone in this beautifully produced hardback book. There's murder aplenty (although not all the stories feature murders) fantasy worlds, contemporary stories- it really is a feast of choice and imagination. Personal favourites include Peril en Pointe, It's Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief and The Frostwilds but there isn't one I haven't enjoyed. Perfect for confident readers who don't want to commit to reading a full novel or those who prefer edgier stories, this really is the book equivalent to Christmas party food; bitesize, beautifully packaged and so addictive, you'll be left wanting more. So get your sleuthing cap on and start solving those festive crimes..

This a winter themed middle grade mystery collection of short stories by various authors. Lots of stories taking you are wintery journeys of Christmas crimes, festive foul play and murder mysteries.
From the title I expected numerous murder mysteries but some just had strange events or riddles to solve.
The collection was wonderfully diverse from children in care, fantasy worlds to a child with autism.
Middle graders would love the stories as they fit the clues, crimes and character building within such a short period of time.

When it came to read my advance copy, it soon became clear that I only had a taster - the first story in the collection.
I have read mixed reviews of this anthology, so desperately wish I'd had the opportunity to read the book in its entirety. However, the first story was a delightful murder mystery featuring an underestimated character who solves the case through her shrewd observations and attention to detail.
If the rest of the collection is up to this standard, I will have to get my hands on a physical copy.

I was quite looking forward to reading this anthology, but I think an expectation mismatch meant that it ended up being quite disappointing overall. From the title, I was expecting 13 murder mysteries, but I didn't even get 13 mysteries. Instead I got maybe 9 mysteries (and 4 murders) and some adventures that didn't even have a mystery with a crime to solve at the heart (but had riddles or just strange events instead.) Maybe a different title and a better description of the stories would have helped.

Mysteries are hard to write, more so in the incredibly short word count of an anthology, so all the stories do an impressive job of fitting in clues, crimes, deductions, and also character building. And to fit in complex side characters with layered histories in only a few thousand words?!

Also, this anthology is a wonderfully diverse one, which authors and characters from all backgrounds. As well as characters from a variety of ethnicities, there are also children in care, from single-parent households, and an autistic character too. While most stories are contemporary, there is one in a fantasy world, and a few on the edge of this world and potentially another.

My favourite story was certainly the first - a proper murder mystery with clues and a crime to solve. Plus the lead was autistic and that helped her as she noticed things other didn't. Plus the wintry setting was key to the mystery being solved - a very confusing clue. Not to mention ballet feels very Christmassy too! It certainly set my expectations high (which might not have helped as it took a long time to get to the next murder.)

There were a few other murders, and I also enjoyed them a lot. There's a scrabble game that precedes the murder, a cold case that no one knows about, and skiing trip gone wrong. Of course, there's little time to set up multiple suspects and red herrings, but the "whodunnit reveals" at the end were very satisfying.

Enjoyed most of the stories in the collection. I enjoy middle grade books and this is perfect for a quick read before bed/teachers to read to a class. some of the stories were a little bit too complex for the age bracket but overall a nice collection of stories which although were all centered around the christmas theme, all very different and diverse.

I have been sent a sample from this short story collection, therefore my review is based on one story, 'Shoedunnit' by Elle McNicoll, I very much enjoyed this story. The main character, Briar, is neurodiverse. A murder is committed in the small hotel in Scotland where Briar and her family live. There has been a heavy snowfall and the murder most be amongst those staying or working in the hotel. Aware this could bring bad publicity and affect her family's livelihood, Briar sets out to solve the murder. Perfectly pitched for middle-grade readers who are likely to be reading this type of story for the first time, I have awarded this book 4 out of 5, simply because I have read only the one story. However, with writers such as Nizrana Farook and Patrice Lawrence contributing I am sure it will be a great collection but as I say without reading the rest of the collection this has to be taken on trust. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for sending me this advance copy.

Festive themed middle grade mysteries written by 13 fab diverse authors. I loved the variety and the cleverness and the fast paced stories. Hard to pick a favourite but I am fascinated by the historical London frost fairs so Joanna Williams’ Ice and Fire really caught my attention. Gorgeous hardback book too, The Very Merry Murder Club would make a ideal present to treasure for any young mystery lover.

I read this book of stories with the pupils in my class and they enjoyed some of the stories very much. Some authors, I felt, had missed the mark with the writing for children, as some of the language and the ideas went over their heads but nonetheless, when I asked them what score they would give the book, they gave it 8 out of 10, which I though was pretty good. They felt that a few of the short stories were actually a bit too long. I won’t mention which ones because that would be unfair and for older children, they might feel that they’re a fine length. Several said that they would be happy to receive the book as a gift, primarily because of the christmassy title.

I had a taster preview of this from NetGalley and the story included was a fun middle grade murder mystery set in a snowy hotel featuring a neurodiverse detective character. I enjoyed it and will keep an eye out for the book for a Christmas gift for the middle graders I buy for.

I absolutely adored this book.

Written by a variety of authors that are diverse and fairly new and it was such a riot. I don’t normally like short stories as they are often not long enough for me to get my teeth into. However, in this case, I was gripped by a lot of the stories. Contrary to the title, they are not all murder mysteries but mysteries in general.

Some are better than others, which is to be expected. My favourites were by Elle McNicol and Patrice Lawrence who wrote 2 fabulous stories. Will be passing on a copy to my class during the Christmas season as it is perfect for the festive time.

I knew this book would be great just by seeing Robin Stevens name on it. My daughter has read and loved all her Murder most unladylike books.

A very merry murder club is a great read packed full of mystery and adventure. The thirteen stories all written for the festive period. This book has something for everyone, each of the different authors and their individual stories make sure of that. I know my daughter will love it and will make a great stocking filler. It would also be idea book to read with my year 6s at school.

I just want to add that I love the illustrations too. The picture pages, the top secret file covers for each story even the little footprints and magnifying glasses help make the book look great.