The Agathas - Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers: USA, 2022.

I got this book on a whim from the school library when I noticed the words "Agatha Christie" on the cover, and enjoyed it enough that, a day later, I am writing the review.

The Agathas stars Alice Ogilvie - a rich, formerly popular girl, who as been a bit of an outcast after she disappeared for five days over the summer - and Iris Adams - a poorer, slightly nerdy girl, who has been assigned to tutor Alice. Both girls have secrets of their own and certainly mistrust one another, but also begin to work together to solve a mystery when one of Alice's ex-friends, Brooke Donovan, goes missing after a late night fight with Steve Anderson, who is Brooke's current- and Alice's ex-boyfriend.

The title The Agathas refers to Alice's love of Agatha Christie novels - she has a seemingly perfect memory of plots and quotes from Christie's books, something that I find impressive, if slightly farfetched, considering how many novels Christie wrote!! However, it is a fun little addition to an otherwise generic - if well-written and entertaining - young adult-pitched murder mystery book. Alice and Iris are good characters, their friend group is suitably quirky, the adults are suitably moronic or suspicious, and the reveal makes enough sense within the context of the plot to not seem like a cop-out.

The only bit that seems a little unrealistic is how antagonistic the police are to the idea of Alice and Iris possibly having information to help them with. The plot does address this directly in part, but certain other elements are dismissed as particular officers being 'jerks.' I can't help but feel - or perhaps more accurately, I hope - that police officers would be a bit more professional in the real world. Admittedly, the 'jerk' officers do enable the plot to work by providing the necessity for Alice and Iris to keep investigating.

Overall, a fun read. I have learned there is a sequel, and would happily read that if I see it on a library shelf in the near future. Although it is a little generic, I still enjoyed it more than most Young Adult-themed mysteries I have read in recent times.

Completed 24 April 2026.

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