Poison Is Not Polite (WELLS & WONG POISON IS N)

This fun follow-up to Murder is Bad Manners sets Daisy and Hazel up in a rather awkward situation. Hazel has come to Daisy's home for vacation, but neither of them expects to have a murder to investigate. But the horrid Mr. Curtis offended pretty much everyone as the personal guest of Lady Hastings. But Daisy can't resist a mystery right under her nose, despite the challenge of suspecting her own family members. As the girls, including their visiting friends, Kitty and Beanie, gather evidence as well as eavesdropping on the strange goings-on, it becomes evident there is more going on than there appears. It's fun to follow along with Hazel as she struggles with her own theories while trying to maintain her friendship with Daisy. Daisy is brilliant after all, but like Sherlock Holmes, lacks the finer social sensitivities. And Hazel struggles to balance her desire for comfort and good food with her curiosity and desire to find the answers. And the addition of Kitty and Beanie complicates things. Add in a mysterious governess, a frustrating Uncle, and an annoying brother and his best friend and the girls are bound to have an unforgettable holiday visit. The question is whether the girls can find the answers with obstacles thrown in their way left and right, before someone else gets hurt. I'll admit the end did surprise me, which is a surprise in and of itself, since I've read so many middle grade mysteries that it's not usually difficult to predict where things are going to go. So the ending was an interesting surprise, although not a happy one, the guilty party was someone that both Hazel and I liked.

This has been my daughter’s favorite book of this series (so far). She really enjoys the characters and the mysteries.

I am an adult. I read a lot of mysteries. This may be a book intended for young people, but it is the equal of many of the books I've read in the adult mystery genre. As the mother of four daughters who all went through the phase of wanting to be detectives, I enjoyed the similarities between them and Daisy, Hazel and their friends. I recommend these books for girls of that age and anyone else who enjoys a good, complicated case to solve!

Based on the cover you'd expect this to be an average middle-grade book, but it actually gets into some deep topics. The characters are well fleshed out. The story never feels slow.

My daughter, 9, loved this second Wells & Wong book. I think she liked it better even then the first and that's saying something. She talked about it everyday and loved the setting away from the school. The mystery genre snagged a new fan!

This is not a straightforward mystery, but a wonderful surprising story as Daisy and Hazel discover secrets of the other house guests, including that one of them might be a murderer. Perfect for middle grade mystery lovers, and for grown ups too.

Very good book. It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I could not put it down!! Spectacular!

My 10 year old daughter read it... she says... @Such fun! Very suspenseful!”

My daughter has read all of the Robin Stevens books, didn't have this one so I thought it would a nice surprise for her. I didn't mind paying the carriage, and coming from America, I knew it would take a while to get here. When it finally arrived I was excited to take it home and surprise her. My excitement was short lived - while she thanked me for the book, she went on to tell me that this is the American version of 'Arsenic for Tea'. Bummer!

As said by another reviewer, beware - this is a re-issue of a previous book (Arsenic for Tea). This version is published by Simon & Schuster as the 'Wells & Wong' series, and is a re-print of Arsenic for Tea as published by Puffin in the Murder Most Unladylike series. My daughter didn't recognise the title so thought it was a new story, and not having read the books myself I had no idea that this wasn't the case!

Very cross. This is Arsenic for Tea with a different name. Should have been made clear. Really unimpressed and now have hassle of returning it

This is the same story as Arsenic for Tea. What a waste. My daughter, like the other reviews, thought it was a new story. Pity we got the book before the review was listed.