Serena Patel – Robin Stevens: The Super Sunny Murder Club (Farshore – HarperCollins Publishers 2024)
As a continuation of the christmassy short story collection, in this anthology, Serena Patel and Robin Stevens have collected 13 short stories by contemporary middle grade authors, all of which take place in summer, in a heatwave, during vacation, on holiday or on an island, so we are sure to get into the summer mood while reading them.
Robin Stevens’ short story is special because according to the story, a murder takes place in a crime bookstore, inspired by a shop called Murder and Mayhem in Hay-on-Wye. Abiola Bello’s characters are again investigating a dance-related case. In Maisie Chan’s short story, the characters want to spend a family weekend at a holiday park, where unfortunately an accident has happened on the new attraction. Or was it an accident? Benjamin Dean’s spooky short story is about the darkness that lives within us. Roopa Farooki’s characters are preparing for a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Sharna Jackson’s main character unfortunately has to spend the summer in his room due to his allergies, but he witnesses a crime from the window. In Patrice Lawrence’s short story, a special museum object appears. Elle McNicoll’s ‘special’ character is forced to investigate during a family event again. In E. L. Norry’s story, an accident occurs at a summer camp. Serena Patel’s main character, Ela, has to investigate even before their plane takes off, even though she is going on a long-awaited vacation with her family. Anabelle Sami’s characters encounter a bizarre incident on a pick-your-own farm. Dominique Valente has once again created a fantasy story, which takes place on a cursed island, where sibling love plays the main role in addition to breaking the curse. Finally, Nizrana Farook has a real Agatha Christie-inspired crime story for us, where different people gather at a tropical vacation spot, seemingly meeting for the first time.
The authors in the book all bring a new flavor to the crime genre and create protagonists that everyone can identify with. They draw attention to the fact that mysteries are always around us. Even if not everyone encounters the ‘big crime’, there is always something to think about. While reading the short stories in the book, everyone can imagine what they would do if they had to solve the cases themselves. The book is illustrated again by Harry Woodgate.
