Such a fun book for 9 to 12 year olds. This is a fast paced story full of mystery and humor. Clarity sets up the first detective agency in the kingdom and, with her team, starts to find mysteries to solve which proves a bit difficult as no one knows what a detective is. Her team includes an ex assassin, a snow goblin and a street boy who happens upon the agency one day. The characters are well drawn, interesting and I found myself intrigued by them and wanting to find out more. The book includes lots of backstory and is a very enjoyable read.

Huge thanks to the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review, I absolutely loved Clarity Jones and the Magical Detective Agency. It is so fun, vibrant and a truly terrific adventure. Mutt, Clarity and the gang just leap off the page, I also loved the storytelling format of each character’s backstory and the guide to the various creatures. All in all, it’s an easy five stars from me, the humour, the illustrations of the characters and plot makes this a new classic.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and haven’t chuckled so much for a long time! The main characters were all so lovable. Clarity the detective, Nissassa the assassin, Mutt the 8-year-old street boy who becomes the apprentice detective, and especially Mirko the huge snow goblin who can’t stand it when his white fur gets muddy. The story is full of humour, magic, mystery and monsters. I loved the idea of Moaningtide Day where everyone wishes each other a mournful Moaningtide and complains about the cold and anything else they can think of. One of the best things in the book is the commentary from the narrator, eg “Elbric Smear does not feature heavily in this story. In fact, he’s only in two scenes, so it’s not worth getting to know him particularly well. But let’s take a quick look at him anyway, because Mirko’s going to knock him out cold in about seventeen paragraphs’ time, so this will be our last chance.”
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful story which adults as well as children will love!

The children found this hilarious and interestingly the older (teens) laughed in different places to the younger ones. I had to stop reading occasionally for them all to settle down. The cries of - can we read it again - shows that it is likely to become a family classic in this house .

I really enjoyed this humorous, imaginative and magical tale, set in the city of Meandermart, where orphan Mutt, following the local tradition of having figurines of his parents carved as a reminder of them, keeps to their strict principle of neither stealing nor begging. (I really liked this aspect of the story, as so often the opposite is portrayed in middle grade fiction.) Mutt therefore spends his days as a messenger boy around the streets of Meandermart, earning enough for a few scraps to keep himself alive. Knowing the backstreets like the back of his hand (or rather better) doesn’t stop him from stumbling accidentally into the Clarity Jones’ Magical Detective Agency while on the run from some local bullies. Which is just as well as Clarity is looking for an apprentice and gives Mutt a job on a trial basis, paying him in advance so he can buy clothes (which he spends instead on the best and most expensive goat-pie in all of Rillia). When Clarity is hired to find the missing royal jester, Mutt is determined to prove himself worthy of her trust.

I really enjoyed this story, I loved the magic and the monsters in this world. Clarity has collected an array of magical items to help her investigations as she operates Meandermart’s first magical detective agency, which are great fun to read about. The book is nicely illustrated by Kenneth Anderson, and I particularly loved the little excerpts from ‘A Travellers Guide to Rillia’ with pictures and details of the various animals, such as Hedge-Hawks or Umlauts.

Mutt is a great characters, and I like Nissassa (assassin by name as well as calling) and Mirko, the snow-gnoblin (obsessed with keeping his fur clean), but I lOVE Clarity. I would love to read of her adventures gathering together all her magical artefacts and how she met Smyll, the walking wooden chest.

The book is targeted for 8-12 year olds. I would think it’s better suited to younger readers (7-9), partly because of the tongue-in-cheek narrator commentary (eg “Once upon a time there was a princess. (Boring start, I know, but stick with it – it gets better)” ) but also because the mystery is very obvious. I’m saying that as an adult but I think most 8-12 year olds would guess immediately too. However that wouldn’t stop older kids (or adults) from hugely enjoying the story, and if you are looking for an imaginative and fun fantasy read, I highly recommend it.

Running away from bullies leads Mutt to the Magical Detective Agency, which can only be found if you need it. As it happens, Clarity Jones is in need of an apprentice, and agrees to take Mutt on for a trial period, where he joins a retired 11 year old assassin and a very clean Snow Gnoblin, investigating the disappearance of the Duchess's court jester...
Memorable characters, plenty of humour, a touch of menace and a mystery to solve make for a hugely entertaining read, all underpinned by the warmth of the characters' relationships with each other. Highly recommended.

Clarity Jones is the first detective in The Great City of Meandermart. Clarity sets up a detective agency alongside Mirka, a clean-obsessed snow gnoblin, Nissassa, a young semi-retired assassin, and Mutt, an orphaned young boy.

The Magical Detective Agency are summoned by the Duchess to investigate the disappearance of her jester and the adventures unfold.

The map and illustrations throughout the story really add to this story and the world building. If you’ve read Frankie Best Hates Quests you’ll enjoy the mentions of creatures and fruits from Parallelia in this story. This story is funny and heart warming but also has scary moments (suitable for children). I really hope we get another Clarity Jones story in the future. A brilliant read!

Clariy Jones runs a detective agency and it is surrounded by magic!

Mut s ment to be an assitant but h.e spent most of the working spends his days and nights going round Medayermart. Looking for a monster.
All the deceives need is all their powers combine to defect this. Frol case. Can they even win it?

Which one of them would crackling this case first Clarity wonders?
Handy Dandy had been found but was 'noticeably less funny'
But they all got sent to locked in a cell in the basement!
Charity Jones was the first one to escape.

It's not the Duchess Peruka, and wants to kill the King.
The nyterra had been found in the form of Handley Danny is a shape-shifting monster called a nyterra!'

There are so many different characters and type of magic, they all add depth to this book. And I love the secret twist at the end of this book.

This is the first in a new series of Chris Smith and would make a ok book for 9-10 year olds, if they enjoy magic books this could be the book for them.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a complementary digital copy of this ebook in exchange for a full, frank and honest review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.

Mutt spends his days wandering the streets of Meandermart hoping to find enough work to earn his supper. A constant target for the pupils at the Knights Academy, Mutt also spends a lot of time running, hiding, and being pummelled just because. When his daily sprint takes him into an unknown area of the city he finds himself in the presence of Clarity Jones, the foremost detective in the realm of Rillia who just happens to be the only detective in that realm, and she needs an apprentice.

As he begins to learn what this actually entails the agency is hired to find a missing person but that is only the beginning of what could become their first and last big case! With each member of staff calling on their individual expertise to solve their difficult and dangerous investigation will Mutt come to regret his new job before it's almost got started?

This is the first in a new series for Chris Smith featuring a detective agency when no-one actually knows what a detective is, especially a magical one! I thoroughly enjoyed this, it has dark moments and plenty of humour alongside a story which is just scary enough for the age range it is written for, 9 to 12 years.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own.  This is a fun read with humour and great illustrations. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from Clarity Jones and her group of friends. Recommended.

A wonderful cast of quirky characters with great world building, I enjoyed the 'stories within the story' too. Accompanied by fantastic illustrations, this one is a must read!

This was a great story- humorous fantasy for all ages. It was like a Terry Pratchett in tone. I loved the world and creatures of Meandermart - the detective gang were all great characters and I particularly enjoyed the chatty omniscience of the narrator. This is bound to be a hit! Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

Clarity Jones and the Magical Detective Agency is an absolutely delightful story about a princess who decides that she no longer wants to be a princess, because she (quite reasonably) wants to see the world and dabble in Magic and Mystery instead. To that end, she "retires" from her princess role, and sets off to make her way in the world.

By the time Clarity has decided to settle down for a bit in one place, she has picked up some companions on her journey - Mirka the gigantic yeti-like Gnoblin, who is inordinately concerned with keeping his snow-white fur pristine, and Nissassa, a young girl who also happens to be a one-time assassin from the most feared and infamous Assassins Guild in the country.

After Clarity sets up the first ever detective agency in Meandermart - inventing the word detective in the process - an orphaned street-child named Mutt accidentally applies to be her new apprentice, to the great disdain of Nissassa.

When the Duchess of Meandermart seeks out this motley crew to help her locate her missing jester, Handy Dandy, no-one has any inkling that this is just the beginning of the adventure.

Chris Smith's new book delivers on every aspect of storytelling - a unique sense of humour that had me laughing out loud more than once, nice illustrations, creativity that provides readers with a truly action-packed adventure, quirkiness throughout (just wait for the lie detonator to make its debut), and a light touch with deeper emotions (e.g. Mutt's "company" at home).

The world-building is brilliant, and best of all, his characters are very real and befriend you over the course of the story, so that you're sad when the book ends. Or at least, I was! This is one of the best books for younger readers that I've come across in quite a while.

Please read it. I promise you'll enjoy it, whatever your age.

This is a fun book with great word play (think Terry Pratchett for a younger audience). The story revolves around Clarity Jones and her two detective companions when they offer a street boy the chance to become their apprentice.

With amusing side-notes along the way, there are funny bits for adults, as well as children.

The first chapter could do with being deleted.....it's not easy for a middle-grade child to read and frankly, adds nothing to the storyline.

My 9 year old daughter adored this book. It drew her in immediately from the opening chapter and she raced through this one, staying in bed late in the morning ( unheard of!) to finish this book. A great read for the school holidays!

She loved the combination of humour and mystery. It made her laugh and kept her engaged and guessing. She really enjoyed the characters and the magical creatures and the fact that not all the characters were human and she really loved how the story reached its conclusion and all the threads tied together.

A huge recommendation from her for this one. She is looking forward to buying this in paperback when its published and rereading it and really wants to read more from Chris Smith. I loved listening to how enthusiastic she was when talking about this book. A proper magical experience!

What a fantastic new series(I hope it is anyway). I loved the characters, but Mutt in particular was someone that you wanted to keep cheering on. It is a great twist on the detective stories we see at the moment and has a sense of humour that is much appreciated.