Not Quite A Review: Murder is Bad Manners

This year, for me, reading- and other-wise, has not been great. Is it time for us to light 2016 on fire and wave goodbye just yet? No? Okay. A few more weeks.

Well. In the midst of this year where I read a whole ten books, oh my god, try to hold back your applause for that ASTOUNDING NUMBER (yeah, sorry, the sarcasm is heavy tonight) -- anyway. In the midst of this year, I did discover a little beauty. A gem in the middle of all this madness.

Murder is Bad Manners, the first in a middle grade cosy mystery series by Robin Stevens. On a whim I found and bought this and the second book in the series earlier this year. Now, as with so many wonderful books, these seem to be originally published overseas, which means I don't know if I can actually find the remaining however-many in the series here in the United States. (If anyone knows, LET ME KNOW, although I'm sure finding out online shouldn't be too goshdarn difficult.)

Anyway, back to the book. It's cute. It's charming. It's slightly-creepy. It's murderous. It's lovable. Set in a British boarding school, I wish I could leap RIGHT INTO this book. Yes, even with that nasty business about the murder happening. The second in the series (Poison is Not Polite) is sitting on my shelf right now, just waiting for the perfect moment to be read. I'm thinking later in the winter, during a snowstorm hopefully.

Review: The Liar Society

THE LIAR SOCIETY
Lisa & Laura Roecker
Sourcebooks Fire

Kate is convinced that the death of her best friend Grace was more than just a freak accident. After a year of therapy and medicine, she still doesn't believe it was an accident and when she starts getting cryptic emails from Grace, leading her to clues about what really happened, she sets off to solve the mystery, Nancy-Drew-style. With her lovestruck and conspiracy-crazed neighbor (Seth) by her side, each clue seems to lead to even more mystery and it becomes obvious that their elite prep school is housing more secrets than just the answer to Grace's death.

I have to start with the absolute best thing about this book, which is the fact that it's like a modern version of Nancy Drew. Though Kate's sarcastic exterior (not to mention the way she used Seth) was more than a little annoying in the beginning, these things led to her being incredibly determined to solve the mystery and an honest friendship growing between her and Seth. The plot was refreshingly unpredictable and made for a page-turner of a book.

In addition to Kate's tenacity and the comic relief Seth brought to the book, the setting of Pemberly Brown, their elite prep school where Grace died, was incredible. Richly detailed, with exactly the sort of creepy history you'd expect, it not only added to the "Nancy Drew" feeling, but also grounded the mystery in reality thanks to how real the school itself seemed. Though Kate's search veers to the outrageous at times, the just-as-outrageous setting makes it seem more realistic.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Liar Society, and then the end came. And it was, at least for me, unsatisfying. I like my books, even as a part of a series and especially as the first book in a series, to house a complete story beginning to end, and in some ways this book didn't live up to that. The last few chapter dragged on, but never gave the resolution I was hoping for and expecting. I'd recommend for fans of mysteries and series, especially if they don't mind non-conclusive endings.