The Agathas

by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Who killed Brooke Donovan? It’s the biggest mystery of the summer, and everyone in Castle Cove thinks they know what happened. But they're wrong. Two unlikely friends come together to solve the case in this fast-paced, fun, modern Agatha Christie inspired thriller.

"Part Agatha Christie, part Veronica Mars, and completely entertaining." —Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Of Us Is Lying

A PEOPLE MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF SUMMER

Last summer, Alice Ogilvie’s basketball-star boyfriend Steve dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. She's not talking, so where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or it was, at least. But now, another one of Steve’s girlfriends has vanished: Brooke Donovan, Alice’s ex–best friend. And it doesn’t look like Brooke will be coming back. . .
 
Enter Iris Adams, Alice’s tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn’t have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward Brooke’s grandmother is offering to anyone who can share information about her granddaughter’s whereabouts. The police are convinced Steve is the culprit, but Alice isn’t so sure, and with Iris on her side, she just might be able to prove her theory.
 
In order to get the reward and prove Steve’s innocence, they need to figure out who killed Brooke Donovan. And luckily Alice has exactly what they need—the complete works of Agatha Christie. If there’s anyone that can teach the girls how to solve a mystery it’s the master herself. But the town of Castle Cove holds many secrets, and Alice and Iris have no idea how much danger they're about to walk into.

• ISBN10: 0593431146
• ISBN13: 9780593431146
• Publish Date: 2 May 2023 (first published 3 May 2022)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593431146

Reviews

[Berls]

3.5 stars
What did you think of the characters?

Berls: Overall, I liked them. This is a YA and I definitely felt that -- teenagers who are solving a crime while most the adults are incapable, or too caught up in their own lives, etc. And you definitely have the awful parents that seems to be a theme of YA. That said, once you accept it's a YA and the characters are YA, Iris and Alice are actually very likeable. In fact, they are in some respects, the most adult characters in the book. I like that Alice is going through a transformation where she's learning what real friendship looks like. Iris is dealing with her own demons and some of that is learning how to accept true friendship. So that was nice.

What did you think of the plot?

Berls: The plot is where this book shines. There's one main mystery that had me guessing and second-guessing almost to the very end. There's also a couple subplots - one involving Iris and her mother and another involving Alice and what happened to her this past summer. I enjoyed both these subplots. There is some mystery to both, in that we don't fully know what is going on with either of them and both Alice and Iris are trying to figure out the mystery of the other person too. The subplot involving Alice was a little absurd to me in some respects but I did want to know. And Iris's was very compelling. 

What did you think of the resolution?

Berls: I was very satisfied with the resolution - of all 3 plots. I especially liked the resolution to Iris's situation as that was probably the one I was most hopeful/worried about. I also really liked the way I kept having to guess for the main plot and the resolution was unexpected (even if I did figure out one element slightly before it was revealed, the way things wrapped up was surprising and kinda funny). 

What did you rate The Agathas and why?

Berls: I'm giving it 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4 on goodreads). I think because I did really love the plot and mystery but some of the YA elements gave me a slight eye roll -- but truly nowhere near as much as many YA books! I would read more in this series. 

Narrator thoughts :

Berls: I did a bit of this on audio -- the majority I read in eBook -- and I felt the narration was solid. There are three narrators - Mehr Dudeja, Sophie Amoss, Holly Linneman - but I honestly didn't listen to enough to realize or recognize the differences. Or they were so well incorporated that I just didn't realize it was different narrators? I do know that the voices felt distinct to me and I was able to listen at my normal 2x speed easily