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A Double Detectives Medical Mystery: Diagnosis Danger by Roopa Farooki

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See the first book in this series The Cure For Crime.
 
Ali and Tulip know all about being medics. They know something about being detectives too, which is a good job because there’s a new case that needs their skills. A fun fresh take on the detective genre, full of excitement, humour, and medical know-how.
 
Roopa Farooki is an established adult novelist and a doctor. She has been awarded the John C. Christopher prize in recognition of her multicultural writing. 
 
Recommended video from A Book Week Scotland Author Event:

The Burning Girls by C. J. Tudor

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‘Britain’s female Stephen King’ Daily Mail

Welcome to Chapel Croft. For Rev Jack Brooks and teenage daughter Flo it’s supposed to be a fresh start. New job, new home. But, as Jack knows, the past isn’t easily forgotten. And in a close-knit community where the residents seem as proud as they are haunted by Chapel Croft’s history, Jack must tread carefully. Ancient superstitions as well as a mistrust of outsiders will be hard to overcome.

Yet right away Jack has more frightening concerns.

Why is Flo plagued by visions of burning girls?
Who’s sending them sinister, threatening messages?
And why did no one mention that the last vicar killed himself?

Chapel Croft’s secrets lie deep and dark as the tomb. Jack wouldn’t touch them if not for Flo – anything to protect Flo. But the past is catching up with Chapel Croft – and with Jack. For old ghosts with scores to settle will never rest . . .

Last One To Die by Cynthia Murphy

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 6 Jan 2021

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Are you a teen who thrills to be terrified? This book is for you.
Promoted as “Point Horror for the social media generation” [The book is published by Scholastic]
We love the striking jacket design.

Young, brunette women are being attacked in London. 16-year-old, Irish-born Niamh has just arrived for a summer of freedom, and quickly discovers that the girls being attacked look frighteningly similar to her. Niamh is determined not to let her fear destroy her summer. But can her new friends be trusted? Will she be able to stay ahead of the attacker? Or will she be next? Packed with voice-driven whodunit storytelling, and a retro slasher-movie feel reminiscent of cult classics, this dark, pacy, and irresistibly-creepy debut really has something for everybody!

Last One to Die is a YA horror novel and you’ve mentioned that Point Horror has been a big influence for you. Can you tell us a bit more about your debut, and the inspiration behind it?

Last One to Die came about after a huge writing slump. I was actually trying to write something else when I started listening to a podcast called Lore and an episode about a creepy Victorian villain, Spring Heeled Jack. I had never heard of him, but it planted a little seed which I kept coming back to. I shelved what I was writing and started to brainstorm a teen horror. I have always been a huge fan of anything remotely scary so went and re-watched all of the classics from my teens – Scream, Final Destination, The Craft – and I knew that I wanted to write something scary but also fun. I wanted to recapture that feeling I had as a teen where I was thrilled to be terrified!

from Curtis Brown’s website

 

Lori and Max and the Book Thieves – Lori and Max by Catherine O’Flynn

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 13 Nov 2020

“Lori is a highly original narrator and Flynn is unafraid of dealing with knife crime and neglect in a book that still manages to be light on its feet and suitable for 8 to 12-year-olds. No small feat. ”
The Times

“Original, exciting, full of insight and with its wonderful protagonists, this is one of the best books for young readers of the year.” BfK

A new Lori and Mx adventure. Check out the first Lori And Max.

A stolen phone and an unruly dog; a buried lunchbox and an antique children’s book. Unlikely young detectives Lori and Max must dig through layers of lies to solve two mysteries.

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Death Sets Sail by Robin Stevens

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 3 Aug 2020

The ninth and final novel in the popular Murder Most Unladylike series.

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are in Egypt, taking a cruise along the Nile. They are hoping to see some ancient temples and a mummy or two; what they get, instead, is murder. Also travelling on the SS Hatshepsut is a mysterious society called the Breath of Life: a group of genteel English ladies and gentlemen, who believe themselves to be reincarnations of the ancient pharaohs. Three days into the cruise their leader is found dead in her cabin, stabbed during the night. It soon becomes clear to Daisy and Hazel that the victim’s timid daughter is being framed – and they begin to investigate their most difficult case yet. But there is danger all around, and only one of the Detective Society will make it home alive…

Stevens is already working on a new series called The Ministry of Unladylike Activity set during WWII.

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Lori And Max by Catherine O’Flynn

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Times Children’s Book of the Week, 31 Aug 2019

“Crime for kids is a bloated genre with mixed offerings, but this writer has cracked the code and this thrilling, funny, perceptive detective story is in a class of its own.” Alex O’Connell, THE TIMES

Lori wants to be a detective, but so far the most exciting mystery she has solved is the disappearance of her nan’s specs down the side of the sofa. Max is the new girl at school and Lori is asked to look after her. Max is odd. She doesn’t fit in – but then, Lori realises, she doesn’t really fit in either. When some charity money goes missing and Max disappears, Lori seems to be the only person who doesn’t think Max has stolen it and run away. Even the police don’t want to investigate and suddenly Lori finds she has a real crime on her hands.

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David Fickling Books Acquires Paperback Rights To Costa Shortlisted Running Girl by Simon Mason

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David Fickling Books (DFB) is set to publish the paperback edition of Simon Mason’s highly acclaimed Running Girl. Shortlisted for the 2014 Costa Children’s Book Award, Mason’s debut foray into YA crime writing was described by the judges as ‘unputdownable’.A former imprint of Random House Children’s Books, newly independent DFB – of which Mason is MD – have acquired the rights to the paperback edition of Running Girl from Penguin Random House, with publication scheduled for June 2015.DFB Publisher David Fickling said: “Our focus at DFB is on all of our authors – past, present and future – and, having had the privilege of working with Simon as his editor over many years, it seemed only natural that we might take on the paperback edition of Running Girl.”There is a huge gap in the market for excellent teen crime fiction, making Running Girl, and its sassy teen detective Garvie Smith, a particularly exciting proposition for us. We’ve been thrilled to see the success the book has – quite rightly – already enjoyed, and can’t wait to bring it home to the DFB stable. We’re also eager to find out what’s in store for our teen sleuth as Simon develops the series.”

via Book Trade Announcements – David Fickling Books To Publish Paperback Edition Of Costa Shortlisted Running Girl.

Quickfire interview: Robin Stevens

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from The Guardian’s quickfire interview series:

What was your favourite book when you were younger?
Anything by Diana Wynne Jones. One Easter holiday I read The Dalemark Quartet five times in a row and became convinced that Mitt was a real person.

Did you read a lot as a child and do you still read children’s books now?
I read everything within grabbing distance, almost at random. While other children were outside learning how to socialise I was taking up residence in my school library. These days I still read a huge amount of children’s fiction. I’m enormously lucky to actually have a job in children’s publishing, which means I get to work with children’s books all day.

via Quickfire interview: Robin Stevens | Children’s books | theguardian.com.

Jo Nesbø’s Doctor Proctor children’s books

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The 54-year-old [Jo Nesbo] is known throughout the globe for his gritty crime novels featuring serial-killer chasing Oslo detective Harry Hole. But he has another, more upbeat, side to his writing: as the best-selling children’s author of the Doctor Proctor series.
Nesbø’s children’s fiction has been a runaway success in Norway and throughout Europe although the books started simply as a way to amuse his daughter, Selma, who was seven years old when the series began in 2007.
The Oslo-born author says: “Selma began asking for stories but she had a few stipulations. She wanted a dinosaur, and a boy character who was smaller than the girl. Oh, and she wanted a Princess and a potato. And a mad professor.”
The crazy professor turned into Doctor Proctor and in making up the bedtime stories, he realised he liked the characters. “The farting and anti-farting powder was all my idea,” he jokes. “Selma just said: ‘Not again, Dad. We used to joke that she was the co-writer, until she suggested we share the royalties.”

via Jo Nesbø interview: I like being funny in children’s books – Telegraph.