Rating: 4.25

While I wasn't as hooked on this book as I was with the first one in the series. The Night In Question, was still a great read.
Fast paced, with some great characters. I enjoyed diving into another story in this world.
The writing was great, paced well and engaging.
Throughly worth reading.

I didn’t realise that this was part of a series so I think if I had read the other book then I may have enjoyed this one more.

Having said that, it was dramatic, action packed and mysterious. A popular genre in our Library so would look to purchase.

Great follow up to a favourite book of 2022! Loved the new mystery for “the Agathas “ to solve - and the short snappy chapters kept me enthralled. Of course also loved to see the two girls become closer despite their lives being very different! Looking forward to book 3! ( please say there is one!)

“It just happened that I have found myself in the vicinity of murder rather more often than would seem normal” - Agatha Christie
Super crime sleuthing teen duo, Iris and Alice find themselves in the middle of another castle cove mystery.
One of their class mates gets stabbed at the school dance at Levy Castle, which is the same place where the 1940s film star Mona Moody was murdered.
No one knows who murdered Mona and Iris and Alice are determined to discover the connection to their classmate and Mona.
Enjoyed the Agatha Christie quotes in the book and did like seeing Iris & Alice’s relationship grow.
However found the overall whodunnit a bit muddling.
Definitely got the Nancy Drew vibes throughout the book.
Thanks @misskathleenglasgow @lzlwsn @oneworldpublishing &@Netgalley for the eARC

I was such a HUGE fan of The Agathas and I was so excited to hear there would be a sequel- and it definitely did not disappoint! These are brilliant mysteries, with excellent characters - tense, funny, compelling. I really hope there will be more in this series!!

I loved the first book in this series and so am slightly devastated how little I got from this sequel. Alice and Iris are back solving a new mystery after a school friend is stabbed during a dance at Levy Castle. The novel follows their amateur detective antics (much to the chagrin of all adults in the novel) and how the sleuths connect the modern day crime to the life of movie star Mona Moody. She died tragically young by plummeting to her death from the tower of Levy Castle - coincidence?? Obviously not.

It is hard to put my finger on what did not work for me. The fact that my reading record shows I started reading the book in April and did not finish until June shows how little it held my interest. The mystery just was not something I cared about (particularly considering the victim and the falsely accused classmate are insufferable brats). The Mona Moody storyline and connections was slightly more interesting but took a while to get going. By the end of the book, the twists being layered upon each other get completely ridiculous and the true perpetrator of the crime comes out of nowhere.

I will certainly give the next book in the series a chance as I like following Alice and Iris. However, I am hoping the next mystery will be something grittier to get my teeth into. 2.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

Thank you so much to Oneworld Publications and NetGalley for this ARC! After devouring the first book I was so excited for this one!

This is the second book in “The Agatha’s” series which is a YA mystery/thriller series following Iris and Alice and their group of friends as they solve crimes around their small town of Castle Cove. When a student is brutally attacked at a school dance being held at Levy Castle, Iris and Alice immediately begin to investigate and try to save their classmate from being put in jail for a crime they believe she didn’t commit. As they delve further into that night they realise that the events that unfolded may relate to the death of film star Mona Moody in the 1940’s and dangerous secrets are uncovered.

The plot in this one was so well crafted and so interesting. There were twists upon twists, many of which I truly didn’t see coming. Again, like with the first book I did not guess who “Person X” was at all and the way everything came together was so clever and well thought out. I really enjoyed the weaving of the past and the present and how Alice and Iris had to solve one before they could uncover truths about the other. The pacing was also really good, I wasn’t bored once!

I still love Alice and Iris as characters. The authors do a great job at showing us that these are indeed human teenage girls who make mistakes and aren’t superhuman with shocking intelligence. I’m also all for Spike and Iris personally.

I’m thinking (and hoping) that the next book will be about the Remy Jackson case because it was definitely hinted at at the end of this book (not a spoiler!) and I think that could be interesting to look into! I’m absolutely in love with this series and I highly suggest you check them out. This instalment was released on 1st June 2023 so you can get both books and binge them which I would highly suggest.

Didn’t realise this was a direct sequel rather than a companion novel unfortunately! Have heard great things about The Agatha’s however.

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

This was one of my top June book as I was a huge fan of the Agathas. It was even better that the first book and there were plenty of twists, turns and surprises.
Iris, Alice and the gang are back and it's another exploration of the social differences and the mysteries of a Californian place.
The authors did an excellent job and deliver a great story that made me wish I could read another soon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

They are back! After solving a murder that shocked Castle Cove a few months back, seventeen-year-old Iris and Alice are trying to lead a normal life and do the things that teenagers usually do, like attending a school dance. Except that murder seems to be following them. While Alice is exploring Levy Castle, where the dance is being held and where more than 50 years earlier young actress Mona Moody (accidentally?) died, she stumbles upon the scene of a brutal attack: Rebecca Kennedy and Helen Park had been fighting just a few minutes earlier, and now Rebecca is on the floor bleeding and unconscious while Helen is holding a bloodied letter opener. A weather alert makes it also difficult for emergencies to arrive, so Alice and Iris channel their inner Agatha Christie and get to work to figure out what happened.

I am a huge fan of this series. Iris and Alice use their knowledge of Agatha Christie’s novels and the methods of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot to solve the cases the police isn’t able to, often finding themselves in trouble with the law for trespassing on property or keeping evidence. In this case, they are not entirely convinced that Helen is the attacker and, as their investigation deepens, it seems to be linked to what happened to Mona Moody half a century earlier.

The story is told from the perspective of both Alice and Iris. These two characters couldn’t be more opposite, but they are linked by a very deep friendship. Alice comes from a wealthy and influential family. She has a strained relationship with her parents who have ignored her for most of her life and she’s been raised by her nanny Brenda. Once a member of the cool kids in school, following the events of the first book, The Agathas, she’s found new and more loyal friends with Iris and the Zoners. On the other hand, Iris comes from a financially struggling family and works after school. She lives with her mother after she sent her father to jail and she’s still haunted by her violent past.

The Night In Question is a gripping and fun novel and I enjoyed seeing how the characters have evolved. I can’t wait for their next adventure!

An absolutely brilliant sequel to the Agathas - filled with plenty of twists and turns that will keep readers guessing, this is a no-brainer purchase for fans of Karen McManus, or anyone who enjoyed The Agathas!

The queens of YA crime have returned with another perfect Christie-style mystery!

In the last year, I have found The Agathas a key recommend for my customers. YA crime has definitely gone from strength to strength in recent years, so I had been really looking forward to the second book in this teen sleuthing series.  Thankfully it did not disappoint, and this was just as entertaining a read as the first book.  Fast paced and a good mystery, this will be a must read for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus.

I really hope Liz Lawson and Kathleen Glasgow continue this series as it is now one of my favourites. The characters are well written, the plot is really engaging and I love the links to Agatha Christie. This is an easy recommend to Ya readers who love a good murder mystery.

Such a unique book, I loved the plot, and oh my god the characters we're so amazing!! I definitely will be recommending it!!

What a brilliant set of characters, this series is one fantastic investigative mystery after another. Not long after their last case, Alice has stumbled across another, and cannot resist looking into it.

Just as many twists as before, this read is exciting and past paced. A solid, easy read!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

'Old sins have long shadows' Agatha Christie

The authors here, Liz Lawson and Kathleen Glasgow, entertain and pay homage to the golden age of crime, specifically the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, with this series featuring the teen obsessed Agathas, Alice Ogilvie, who relates to Hercule Poirot, and Iris Adams, who feels a particular affinity with Miss Jane Marple. They look for means and motive, and are inspired by the Christie books to help them solve their cases. This is their second case after previously solving a murder which is still haunting the girls, there are many references to it here, this begins with the Sadie Hawkins dance being held at Levy Castle, where in the 1940s, the movie star Mona Moody fell to her death. The narrative is littered throughout with quotes from Mona Moody and Christie's novels.

Alice and Iris come from different backgrounds and are a different personalities, but they gel well together, they do disagree on occasions and have serious conflicts. They find their next case at the dance, where on a dark, stormy night which has them isolated by mudslides, in a castle with secret passageways, a horrendous attempt is made on the life of one of their classmates, Rebecca Kennedy. The perpetrator appears to be obvious, but the girls are not so convinced, it all looks far too convenient. They are helped by their crew of Raf Ramirez with his police contacts, Zora Johnson, Spike Flick, and Neil Cetas. There are news reports and interviews incorporated and the lead CCPD officer, a Detective Mark Thompson, is far from happy with what he sees as their interference.

Alice and Iris face a complex, challenging and dangerous inquiry with numerous twists and rooted in a long ago past of lies, secrets, deceptions and murder. This was my first taste of the series, and I was surprised with the level of Christie details that the authors included, they are clearly as obsessive as the protagonists they have created! This read is not intended as merely a piece of fluff and fun, there are serious themes such as abuse, and the many difficulties that many young adults can face. This will obviously appeal to a YA audience, but other readers might find themselves charmed and engaged by this as well, particularly if they are Christie fans too. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Iris and Alice are back with another mystery they find themselves in the middle of in their small town of Castle Cove. When one of their classmates is found stabbed and with a head wound, they end up investigating the life of a local, long dead movie star, and how she’s connected to what happened.

I absolutely loved the first novel and this is a solid follow up. It’s been a while since I read it though, and would have liked a little more of a reminder of what happened at the end of the novel. It’s referenced throughout the book, but it’s not essential to this plot, so it wasn’t a major issue but would’ve been nice.

That being said, it didn’t stop me enjoying this book. The stakes were always high and I felt like I was on a ride with Alice and Iris as they investigated the mystery. I think they are both written well as point of view characters and I enjoyed seeing different aspects of the story.

This was a really fun read and had me hooked throughout. I hope there is more in this series!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Having loved book one I was so excited to be given the opportunity to read and review this before publication. It didn’t disappoint.
Iris and Alice find themselves caught up in a terrible drama when a fellow student is violently assaulted while at a school dance. A student she argued with earlier in the evening is seen standing over her body holding a bloody letter opener. The Castle Cove police believe it to be an open and shut case, but our intrepid duo are not so sure.
From the outset we can see they’re dealing with a rather unusual case. There’s links to the disappearance of starlet Mona Moody years earlier, and we quickly see that there’s plenty of people with things they’d rather stayed hidden.
While the girls find themselves in increasingly perilous situations it was good to see their continuing love of Christie and their determination to stick to their guns.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun book to read but I found sometimes that I wasn't as invested in the characters and their stories as I perhaps could be.

The reveal of the baddie was set up nicely and readers could get hints along the way so it wasn't too much of a surprise in the end. Though, I will say that the whole mystery seemed very convoluted with the Mona Moody storyline.