Janice Hallett does it again! I have long been a fan of her books, and this new angle, writing for a younger audience is an exciting addition to her oeuvre. I have already been recommending her writing to older students with a penchant for puzzle solving and I just know some of my younger pupils will love this book. Cleverly constructed, tautly plotted and hugely satisfying!

This is a fun Young adult mystery set in a split household so that the two young people involved need to send each other messages. As usual, Hallet uses a clever device to allow the reader to share the story.

The mystery itself is pretty easy to solve as expected for a young adult cozy mystery and it’s as fun as you would expect it be from this author.

One part I really did not like were the sections written by a child which I assume were meant to be phonetic. I couldn’t understand these sections at all and in the end had to skip them. This was very frustrating as obviously the last summarising part was written in this way. Phonetic writing needs to be done very carefully and I don’t think it was successful in this case.

All in all, a fun read and one I would recommend.

Janice Hallett returns with another masterfully constructed mystery, this time inviting readers to become sleuths themselves in A Box Full of Murders. Presented through found documents, letters, and recordings, this is a story that unfolds layer by tantalising layer.

When siblings Ava and Luke stumble upon a box of intriguing artefacts in their father’s attic, they find themselves drawn into a decades-old murder case that was never solved. The format is classic Hallett—ingenious, immersive, and full of twists you won't see coming. But what truly makes this one shine is the way she combines genuine suspense with a healthy dose of humour and nostalgia.

The references to the 1980s are pitch-perfect, and Ava and Luke’s baffled responses to things like cassette tapes and the wait for photo development add a lovely lightness to the darker undertones of the case. It’s this balance between tension and levity that makes the book such a compelling read.

As always, Hallett trusts her readers. You are not simply observing the mystery unfold—you are invited to solve it. With every note, clipping and conversation, you’re nudged closer to the truth. Or are you? In classic fashion, nothing is quite as it seems, and every assumption is worth questioning.

This is an absolute treat for fans of interactive storytelling, cold case mysteries and cleverly constructed narratives. A book to pore over, piece together, and then immediately recommend to friends so you can compare theories.

Highly recommended for lovers of crime fiction with a twist—and for anyone who enjoys a puzzle as much as a plot.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

Book Review: A Box Full of Murders by Janice Hallett
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

Janice Hallett, best known for her adult thrillers, ventures into middle-grade mystery with A Box Full of Murders, and she does not disappoint. This first children’s mystery from the bestselling author is a compelling and cleverly crafted tale that will keep young readers hooked from start to finish. Perfect for fans of Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens and The Skylark's War by Rhian Tracey, this book combines a gripping mystery with just the right amount of suspense and intrigue.

The story follows Ava and Luke, two inquisitive friends who stumble upon a box of old papers in the attic. Inside, they find a collection of letters, newspaper clippings, diary entries, and secret recordings—all pointing to a decades-old unsolved murder. As they dig deeper into the mystery, they realize that the killer might still be at large, and could be much closer than they ever expected.

What sets this book apart is its interactive, "you’re-a-detective-too" vibe. The story is told through the documents Ava and Luke uncover, allowing readers to experience the investigation firsthand and try to solve the case themselves. It’s a fantastic way to engage readers and get them thinking critically, piecing together the clues just like the characters in the story. It also makes for a great "whodunnit" read that will keep both young readers and adults on the edge of their seats.

Hallett's writing is sharp and witty, making the mystery both accessible and captivating for middle-grade audiences. The characters of Ava and Luke are well-rounded and relatable, and their dynamic adds an extra layer of charm to the story. The book does a great job balancing suspense with lighthearted moments, making it enjoyable without being too dark or intense for younger readers.

Final Thoughts:

A Box Full of Murders is a well-paced, thrilling mystery that will engage readers with its intricate plot and clever use of documents to unravel the story. Janice Hallett proves that her talent for crafting suspenseful narratives translates well to the middle-grade genre. It’s an exciting read for mystery lovers of all ages and a perfect choice for fans of interactive and puzzle-like stories. While there may be moments where the complexity of the mystery might be a bit much for younger readers, it’s a fantastic introduction to the genre and a must-read for budding detectives.

I love Janice Hallett’s adult mystery/crime novels and was intrigued to read this new story aimed at a younger market. The story is told in case-file format, found in an old attic, and text messages between the brother and sister who found it are interspersed with diaries, forms and other documents from the case. It’s an interesting way of presenting the evidence and gradually telling the story. The case relates to a crime committed during a summer camp in the 1980s and readers are invited to see if they can spot the clues and solve the mystery. I would say it’s unlikely to be suitable for under 10s due to dark themes and murder.

Very enjoyable mystery aimed at younger readers but written in the quintessential Hallet style. The story features two siblings who are living in separate houses because of their parents' divorce. But they collude to solve a case from the eighties when they find a box full of details and reports about a campsite where a crime occured. A Box Full of Murders was a lot of fun. And I feel that younger audience will be captivated by the novel. It might even work for a lot of grownup fans of the author.

Over the last few years, Janice Hallett has flipped the crime writing genre on it's head by creating some of the most unique stories by utilising a range of written texts to create an exciting narrative-Letters, WhatsApp messages, Diary excerpts etc..

Now she has written her first children's book again deploying a variety of different types of writing to produce a brilliant children's detective story.

Ava and Luke- brother and sister living in different homes with parents who have separated -discover a box of papers in an attic. They communicate via their phones and messaging. As they explore the content, they soon realise that this is the story of a crime that that took place in 1983at a Scout and Guides' summer camp.

The plot is based around the events at the camp and Ava and Luke need to work out who is the murderer of a botanist and his assistant, is there a ghost haunting the woodlands and what has happened to a missing guide?

The children at the camp keep diaries so much of the plot is told through their recounts along with Lost Property Forms, Incident Reports, timetables; letters etc . The children are divided into groups often named with cultural references of the time- The Fun Girl Three; Duran Spandau; Hunky Dry; Brewford Badgers. Each group has four scouts or guides . The Scout and Guide leaders also add their voices.

This is a fast paced read with lots of different perspectives of events which are carefully reviewed by Ava and Luke until they solve the puzzles of the past events

There are red herrings and clues galore and lots of humour too.

As an adult reader, the 80s references were spot-on and Ava and Luke's responses to them were often hilarious - What is a digital watch? fancy having to wait for a photograph to be developed!!

This is an excellent read for 9-12 year olds or a wonderful class read.

Janice Hallett's distinctive approach by mixing genre/writing types is excellent and with a multi layered plot moving between today and 1983 makes for a superb read. Parents/adults/grandparents will also enjoy the references back to four decades ago so lots of conversations have to be triggered!!

A book that will be highly recommended to colleagues in KS2 but most importantly a wonderful summer detective read for 9-12 year olds... and hopefully this won't be the last we hear of Ava and Luke !!

Children's summer read of 2025 !!

his is the first children's book from Janice Hallett, written in her unique style of correspondence, presented in chronological order so you the reader can work out the ending.

This time, siblings Ava and Luke embark on uncovering the mystery when Luke discovers a box marked ‘Top Secret’ in the loft. The pair investigated the goings on of the ancient world on the 1980s at a Scout and Guide camp in the summer holidays and together solve the puzzle they have been left. They work together but separately also learning to navigate the new world they've found themselves in now they live apart after their parents have separated.

I thought this book was great, I thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgia of children playing in the woods for a week on Scout and Guide camp, climbing trees, building dens, cooking on the camp fire and it evoked memories of the Famous Five. It doesn't have the same adult themes of Hallett’s work for adults and the deaths aspect is very minor and very clean - no gore or anything upsetting here.

I think this is a winner for children and adults alike. Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review

It is fantastic to see Janice Hallett create a novel for younger readers! As a fan of Janice Hallett I cannot wait to share this story with my pupils. A fantastic read for all! I would highly recommend!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this eARC.

A mixed media middle grade crime novel that will keep you truly on your toes.
A fantastic book for all budding detectives and even the grownups too!
The characters are loveable and the inclusion of progress reports makes for a perfect recap (and reading comprehension). Overall highly enjoyable and entertaining.

Luke and Ava's parents have split up, and each have one of the kids living with them. When dared to go to the loft by his slightly older sister, Luke finds a box stuffed with papers, marked 'Top Secret'. Taking a handful (and by the lack of signs of him going back for more for a long time, it's a bloody big handful) he finds it is a set of documents from the 1980s, concerning how the scout camp at Chalfont St Giles was ended when a toxic waste processing plant was granted permission on the fields concerned, and the last stay was documented by the scouts and guides. Oh, and the police – when an unexplained dead person needs to be investigated. So why is all this in what was the family home, who died and how and why, and why is the box talking to these kids now in an oh-so meta, not-like-the-80s-at-all kind of way?

Yes, after using her quirky presentation ideas across several hugely successful adult thrillers, this author turns to the tweenaged audience. And this only really manages to feed into my feeling about books written as diaries – they can be far too detailed, and far too obviously overlong that they could never have been written while the events were happening ("you can't build a tepee and write about it at the same time", indeed). All of the tents manage their own log books, to varying degrees, as it's the last camp, and one sciencey-minded girl keeps a track of every minute while being one of three people floundering in a fishing river while someone squeals away about a ghost. Even Luke loses a lot of realism when it seems he is scanning and sending via his phone a crate full of material for his sister.

There is something about this that makes me grateful Ms Hallett is writing for a MG audience. The author is certainly putting a lot of her usual tricks and inventiveness onto the page for a younger reader. But the more important question is how grateful said young reader would be – and I'm not really sure. There is a lot of archness here about how vintage payphones, calculator watches and Walkmans are, and while the modern-day kids look up a lot that the case refers to, they never once try and find out what happened to the woods. Nah – too easy. But too obvious.

What makes this a quite distinctive case is of course that the people trying to solve it are pre-teens in the nowadays, and the case is – utterly unrealistically – in perfect order in this box, and forty years ago. They can't get ahead of anyone and save the day, therefore. But there's so little for any reader to latch on to – even if they do see the clues that I did, there are only two of them, and don't amount to a hill of beans – whatever your age as this book's reader, you are just watching the week-long camp play out, and Ava and Luke commentate about it, and you can never join in as junior detectives yourselves. It's by no means a dreadful read – I happily ploughed through it in a couple of evenings – but it doesn't engage the reader with much chance of solving it. Because you're one step behind Ava and Luke and they're decades of steps behind the real players here, so this is quite a few steps down the quality ladder. Three and a half stars.

I love Janice Hallett's adult books and was hoping I'd love this too but I'm not sure her unique mixed media style 100% translated for kids. There were some good parts, I enjoyed the humor and illustrations - I also think kids might not crack the code. I however felt it was too long with too much extra info that was not always germane. For a kids mystery book coming in at over 450 pages I think it could have been edited down a bit. Overall, a quick average read for me.

A Box Full of Murders is a great middle grade mystery which hews closely to Janice Hallett's best-selling formula of utilising archival and written material - in this case, a box full of papers from a scout and guide camp in the 1980s which has been found in an attic, and text messages between siblings Ava and Luke, who are living separately following their parents' split. Ideal for fans of the Murder Most Unladylike series.

I was so excited when I heard Janice Hallett was bringing out a children's book and she did not disappoint! The characters were great and the plot was very fun. I love the way Hallett writes and the tools she uses. This will be such a fun read for so many children, standing out from many other mystery books for the age group.
I cannot wait for more of this series and I will be recommending this highly to young and older readers alike.