This is amazing. When I picked this up with a view to recommending a festive mystery for the kids what I got was so much more. Merry Christmas Murders follows Brooke starting a new school, after moving to the area with her mum. She is autistic and has ADHD and anxiety, and needs her support dog Buoy to help her. In the midst of preparing for an interschool Christmas competition, there's murder - as if making friends and not standing out wasn't hard enough! Brooke finds some peace in joining the Neurokind club run by an SEN teacher - and the five members decide to use their unique skillset to solve the crime!

Peppered with clues and little puzzles throughout this book is a page turning mystery, with a real whodunnit element thats hard to guess but logical. Where this book is outstanding is it's depiction and use of the Neurokind club children, a mix of autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia and other neurodivergent traits. It shows the real challenges faced by the students, but also their talents and skills. It doesn't shy away from bad attitudes towards difference, but also demonstrates to children how adults should behave and encourage neurodivergent people.

It's a perfect balance of a child being able to see themselves represented, show those without neurodivergence what it might be like and just a really good story too!

I volunteer part time in a library and having books like this in there is absolutely essential.

- James (also on IG - james_reads_books)

A fabulous book by an author that I greatly admire. It mixes humour with murder and mystery (what a combination). Importantly all of the main characters are neurodivergent, so I felt that my understanding was enhanced and the story created a real sense of empathy. I would love to read more about the childrens' adventures, but hopefully no more murders for them to solve.

Oh I love Alexandra's books. I have read her previous adult festival murder mystery books and have her next one on pre-order. She is an absolute go-to for crime novels - and for me, Christmas is 365 days of the year, so the fact that this is a festive thriller is instantly a five star for me.

She always has little puzzles in her books, finding song titles in the story or things like that. That works well in this first book because it's for children. There are three puzzles in this; you don't have to do them, they won't affect the reading of the story, but they're a bit of fun, especially for younger readers who don't normally enjoy reading. (And on a side note, I figured out the puzzle that involved some mince pies).

I love the representation of neurodiversity in this book, and anxiety. It can be hard to get mental health or neurodiversity into a book without making it OTT or unrealistic or stereotypical. Alexandra has been very sensitive about it and hopefully it'll relate to any young readers also going through difficult times.

It's so quick and easy to read. I mean I know I'm 3x the recommended reading age, but I read it in a couple of hours, it's so much fun. I think it would be a good book to read to children at bedtime, maybe one chapter a night in the runup to Christmas.

Obviously it is very different to her other festive thrillers because this one is for children, but you can still very clearly hear her voice in it. It's still very much her book.

This was an absolutely fabulous read, well written characters told their story effortlessly and the Neurokind club is amazing! I enjoyed it immensely

4.5⭐️
What a wonderful middle grade murder mystery! I loved the NeutoKind club members and how they took Brooke in straight away. It’s not often you read about neurodiversity this much.
Due to it being an arc, there were a few editing issues that confused me whilst reading (headteachers name changed from Ed to Ian and back again), but it wasn’t enough to stop me really enjoying this.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet school story and a very (murdery) festive mystery with a star cast of neurodivergent kids who really understand themselves and each other. A cosy Christmas read.