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Murder Most Unladylike is a novel by Robin Stevens. It is the first book in the Murder Most Unladylike series, and is followed by Arsenic for Tea.
Synopsis[]
The first gripping, Agatha Christie-style mystery starring a brilliant new double act: feisty, funny schoolgirl detectives, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong.
When Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong set up their very own deadly secret detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls, they struggle to find any truly exciting mysteries to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't, really.)
But then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. She thinks it must all have been a terrible accident -- but when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now the girls know a murder must have taken place... and there's more than one person at Deepdean with a motive.
Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove a murder happened in the first place. Determined to get to the bottom of the crime before the killer strikes again (and before the police can get there first, naturally), Hazel and Daisy must hunt for evidence, spy on their suspects and use all the cunning, scheming and intuition they can muster. But will they succeed? And can their friendship stand the test?
Summary[]
The two principal characters, Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells are students in Deepdean School for Girls. They are the founding members of their school's Detective Society and its only members. Daisy is the president of the detective society and Hazel is its secretary and vice president. Near the beginning of the book, Hazel stumbles upon the corpse of their Science teacher, Miss Bell, in the gymnasium, seemingly fallen from the balcony...but when Hazel returns with Daisy and one of the prefects, the body is gone. Thus, none of the characters believes that Hazel saw Miss Bell's dead body and believes that she was telling lies.
Then, the next day at Prayers, the other students also notice the absence of their science mistress, but they are satisfied when the headteacher informed them that she has received a resignation letter from Miss Bell. Following this, Miss Tennyson has also died. A note was beside her corpse, stating that the murderer was sorry, but she knew she had to do it. Daisy and Hazel, however, are not. They work tirelessly to piece the clues together and solve the mystery.
Towards the end of the book, Hazel and Daisy come across an old notebook, which turns out to be the diary of another character Verity Abraham, the girl who was rumored in the story to have committed suicide by jumping off the Gym balcony the term before Hazel arrived . The diary serves as evidence that Miss Griffin, the headmistress has spoken to her a few weeks ago and informed her that she was Verity's true mother and that Mr. and Mrs. Abraham had adopted her. Miss Griffin had become an unmarried mother, which at the time was not considered normal and would have affected her chances of becoming headmistress. Verity forbids this fact, but Miss Griffin then provides her with evidence of her birth and the adoption, too. Then, she asks Verity to join her as her daughter, but Verity denies it and says Mr. and Mrs. Abraham are her parents. Afterwards, Verity had received a note from Miss Griffin, which was found in the diary. Then, after she met Miss Griffin, she disappeared, which was when Verity was said to have committed suicide. Following this, there is a note proving who the murderer is at the end, written by Miss Bell. Miss Griffin would have disposed of it if not for Miss Bell hiding it.
As there are police at the scene, they hand the diary over, the policeman understands everything and holds a denouement (the final part of the book, unveiling the murderer) and they finally arrest the murderer.