Double Shot: Non-ARC and NetGalley ARC | The Agathas

 

I read The Agathas on a rec from another blogger and loved it so much that I snagged book two, The Night in Question, as soon as it was available on NetGalley.

The Agathas | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am always cautious when it comes to books using Agatha Christie in any way, either as 'modern re-tellings', or using her/her novels as inspiration for the characters to solve whatever mystery they've stumbled upon.

Here, I can gladly say that I LOVED book one. It's incredibly well-done and a solid mystery in its own right, while paying homage to the greatest mystery writer of all time.

Side note: I have seen a ton of bloggers over the years compare this to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. I HATED that book and it was absolute trash. HERE is my review, if you're interested. The Agathas is a million times better.

Anyway, book one.

A year ago one of the most popular girls in school, Alice, disappears without a trace after a bad break-up with her boyfriend Steve. Steve promptly begins dating Alice's best friend Brooke, who quickly becomes the ex best friend. There's a huge confrontation and then Alice is just gone. The town is in shock, worried that something terrible has happened to her.

Yet, Alice returns five days later and gives no explanation or information on where she went, why she left, or how she returned. Just like her idol, Agatha Christie.

Fast forward to present day, when Brooke disappears after a huge fight with Steve. She storms off and the next day everyone finds out she never made it home. Of course Steve is the main suspect - it's ALWAYS the boyfriend. Until it isn't. But maybe it was in this case - you just have to read for yourself to find out.

Brooke's grandmother offers a massive reward when Brooke's body is found; some at first wondered if Brooke was simply pulling an Alice, and would come home in a few days.

The police zero in on Steve right away and despite the bad break-up, Alice is convinced they have the wrong guy; she knows Steve, and Steve is not a killer. So, Alice teams up with her tutor, Iris, who has her own reasons for wanting to leave town and never look back. She's definitely NOT one of the popular crowd and can't wait to get out. The reward money would completely change her life, and allow her the freedom to leave Castle Cove for good.

Turns out Alice is a huge fan of Agatha Christie, and with her books as their guides, she knows she and Iris can solve the murder. The only problem is, Castle Cove is hiding many more secrets than who killed Brooke Donovan. The teens have no idea what they are getting themselves into, and chaos ensues.

I absolutely loved the first book. I read it in a matter of hours, it was that good and I just could not put it down. I loved the friendship between Iris and Alice, and the depth we see in both of them. The story is told in alternating viewpoints and thought there were times when I had to double-check who the narrartor was, each had a unique voice.

I would compare this to One of Us is Lying, one of the best YA books of all time. Not in terms of plot, but in vibe, clever plot and twists, strong character voice, and an overall entertaining mystery. If you read a lot of YA thrillers/mysteries, the ending probably won't surprise you, but it was an ending that made sense. It's not something that comes out of left field, unlike a certain other YA book I mentioned above.

I like that even though Alice was considered an outcast after her disappearing act, Iris and her friends didn't dwell on it. The new friends that Alice makes accept her, and together they all figure out what happened to Brooke. I also love that the teens were presented in an authentic way. Their development and the investigation make sense, because both are huge fans of mysteries and true crime, so they use the knowledge gleaned from that to solve Brooke's murder. They don't just become super sleuths out of nowhere.

I also appreciate the nods to Christie thrown in here and there, in addition to Alice's singular devotion to the Queen of Crime. Here is the start of a series that I think actually lives up to the hype, and one that Christie would not at all be embarassed of inspiring.

Highly, highly recommended.

The Night in Question | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In book one, a mystery is alluded to several times involving Levy Castle, the reason the town of Castle Cove has its name. It was at Levy Castle that Mona Moody, a famous movie star from the 1940s, died under mysterious circumstances after jumping/falling from a balcony. This mystery is expertly interwoven with the current-day attack that Iris and Alice find themselves involved in during their school's Sadie Hawkins dance.

Side note: my biggest issue with the book is the dance itself. The characters are dressed all fancy for this dance, what the heck? When I was in high school, this was the one dance that was decidely NOT fancy. The girls ask the boys, and then wear matching or similar outfits. I have never heard of a Sadie Hawkins dance being a homecoming or prom-like event. Is this just me????

Anyway.

We are a few months removed from book one and during the course of the school dance, Alice takes the opportunity to explore what she believes was a crime scene decades ago. Just like she knew Steve could not have killed Brooke in the first book, Alice is sure that police also screwed up the Mona Moody investigation as well.

Unfirtunately for Alice, she is sidetracked when she litrally walks into a new crime scene involving two of her former friends, Rebecca and Helen. Rebecca is sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood and Helen is standing over her. Rebecca has been stabbed and knocked out, Helen is holding a letter opener. Adding to the case against Helen is the fact that a few hours earlier, everyone witnessed a fight between them over the fact that they ended up wearing the same dress to the dance. Helen does herself no favors by running away from Alice, while insisting she is innocent.

The police immediately assume Helen's guilt, which makes sense given the scene. But they conveniently ignore the fact that Helen is not also bloodied, something that surely would have happened if she were the one who had stabbed and bludgeoned Rebecca. But given their track record, Iris and Alice are not waiting around for CCPD to arrest the wrong person; they are determined to find the culprit first.

To make matters worse, during the chaos a mudslide occurs that makes it impossible to get to or leave the castle.

But once Alice and Iris are on the case, they realize they are hurtling rapidly into a bigger mystery than they first thought, because there are signs that indicate Rebecca's attempted murder is connected to Levy Castle and Mona Moody's death 80 years earlier.

There was a bit of a gap between when I read the first and second books, so I was happy to note that the authors recapped things throughout the second book. It's understandable, given the amount I read, that I would forget details, no matter how much I loved the previous book. It was nice to not have to go back and re-read that one before starting this one.

This is a fantastic series. It's clever, funny, and actually a mystery. The characters continue to develop and evolve. Twists actually make sense, and the pace is quick without being overwhelming. I loved seeing the two plots come together, as this time the characters dealt with some pretty heavy topics aside from death.

Highly, highly recommended.