Continuing the Detective badge (not one I'd originally thought I as likely to do!), I've read up about blood pattern analysis, blood types, DNA and its use in crime investigation, and fingerprinting. I won't regurgitate it all here, as it would be long, boring, and likely inaccurate and incomprehensible! Suffice it to say, I do now have a much greater understanding of all of these than previously, and know that my fingerprints are whorls (rather than loops or arches). I would carry on having more fun with fingerprints, but for the fact that I have to meet a VIP later today and would rather do so without inky fingers! :D
Looking into this badge has also reminded me of some of the ways of transmitting hidden information which I first learned about in the Codebreaker badge such as cyphers or numerical codes, and I've also learned a bit about how information can be concealed in images. There might also be a message concealed somewhere in this post... let me know if you find it please!
At first I thought I'd really struggle to identify my favourite fictional detective and share information about them and their cases - but then I recalled the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens. Perhaps best described as Enid Blyton meets Agatha Christie, these books document the investigations carried out by a pair of intrepid 1930s schoolgirls. Midnight feasts, bun breaks, and daring adventures all take place as Daisy Wells and her sidekick Hazel Wong have a knack of finding trouble - or dead bodies, which tends to amount to much the same thing! The nine novels are supplemented by two short story collections, in which the girls turn their attention to rather less complicated cases, such as the Case of Lavinia's Missing Tie, or the Mystery of the Missing Bunbreak. It's a really nice touch, as after all these are just young girls in a boarding school, remember.
The full list of cases and dates can be found on the author's website, so I won't reproduce it here. We first meet Daisy and Hazel in Murder Most Unladylike, early in the school year in 1934 when they investigate the death of Deepdean School's games mistress. Arsenic for Tea is set in the Easter holidays the following year, when a guest at Daisy's home dies mysteriously. Over the summer holidays, we find them investigating a First Class Murder - MMU's answer to Murder on the Orient Express - and yes, it's a locked-room mystery just like the original! If they thought their second year at Deepdean might be more peaceful, it only takes until Bonfire Night for them to discover otherwise, as there's some Jolly Foul Play afoot. And barely have they caught their breath after solving that one, when it's time for Mistletoe and Murder at Christmas 1935. A Spoonful of Murder is set in Hazel's home in Hong Kong in February 1936, and makes great use of the very different setting, but the girls are safely(!) back in England for Death in the Spotlight just three months later. Top Marks for Murder marks the end of their second school year together, and December of 1936 finds them in Egypt for Death Sets Sail. The events in the short story collections take place around and between these main cases, with those from September 1934 through January 1936 in Cream Buns and Crime, and the five later ones in Once Upon A Crime.
Last books in a series I've loved as much as this usually leave me feeling somewhat despondent - but all is not lost! There are more to come, sort of! The Ministry of Unladylike Activity books are set during the Second World War; Daisy and Hazel may have grown up and left school but Hazel's younger sister May is now unhappily at Deepdean. She is keen to do whatever she can to stop the war and return home to her beloved Hong Kong, but the Ministry doesn't accept children. By masquerading as evacuees, she and her friend try to find out who from their hosts' home is passing secrets to the Germans - then someone is murdered. If we thought the investigative skill stopped with Hazel... well, it doesn't!
Words are definitely more Hazel's forte than Daisy's; of the two she's the cautious, considered, thougthful one, providing a lovely counterpart to Daisy's impulsivity and intuition. Through the books they both learn to appreciate one another's skills; Daisy realises that she can't do it withouth Hazel's contributions, and Hazel gradually develops more self-confidence. One of the things I really like about this series is the inclusivity, and how natural it feels. Hazel is distinctively from Hong Kong, and feels isolated and alienated by her differences at times - and there are other aspects which are equally well handled, although I won't go into that here in order to avoid spoilers. However, despite their differences, from start to finish Hazel and Daisy are both determined to work together to find the offenders and make them pay.
Comments