Here's a mystery import, set in the 1930s, that does justice to its British roots. Hazel Wong has come from Hong Kong to attend Deepdean boarding school. An outcast until she is accepted by upper-crust Daisy Wells, Hazel is happy to be half of a two-girl detective agency. The crimes they solve are silly til Hazel discovers the body of their dead science teacher in the gym. By the time she gets Daisy, the body is gone. The situation grows more complicated as the girls dash around Deepdean, learning secrets about teachers (including a hint of a same-sex relationship), picking up clues, and getting in all sorts of mischief (such as drinking ipecac to make themselves ill). Then another murder occurs. This is a delightfully designed book, from the throwback cover to the school map inside. Hazel makes a good narrator, and while the mystery plods a bit and has too many teachers ough a cast list helps t every reader will guess the ending. Nancy Drew, meet Wells and Wong.

Gr 4-7 A cozy murder mystery with manifest charms, this series opener introduces a pair of boarding school sleuths covertly detecting a death no one else realizes has occurred. Narrator Hazel Wong, a sturdy Hong Kong transplant, and charismatic English Rose Daisy Wells forge a friendship based on their mutual deception of their classmates, concealing their abundant intelligence during lessons and instead deploying it in the service of the Wells & Wong Detective Society. Thought Hazel adopts the lingo of the native students, her pleasant, frank narration displays her outsider status, a perspective that helps guide readers through the logistical and social nuances of their 1930s British countryside school. The mystery proves a twisty but conventional story replete with concealed relationships, professional jealousy, and genre-bound clues. Fresher and more compelling is the tension between the two detectives. Even as the friends remain bonded in cleverness, Hazel develops a conscientious concern for students and staff along with anxiety at tracking a murderer; her caution sparks conflict with Daisy's gleeful curiosity and unperturbable confidence. A recent spate of boarding school settings means this novel shares some DNA with several 2014 offerings, especially Julie Berry's puzzler, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place (Roaring Brook), a spiky story that flaunts its affectations. But Stevens's engaging tale shines with the reflected charms of its detecting duo, a winsome combination of thoughtfulness and relish. Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY