I like the Agatha Christie ness of these books. And the characters are relatable and fun. Hector is my favorite! But the mysteries get really tedious at times. It takes forever for things to come out and for the characters to make the right connections. Then it feels like you have to hurry up and finish in the last 20 pages. And they don’t really “figure it out”, the solution always seems to fall in their lap and surprise them. I'll probably read the 4th one just to finish out the series, but I’m not sure how popular these will be with kids. For 2 kids who are supposed to be “clever” they spend a lot of time stumbling onto clues and having the mystery solve itself.

Aggie Morton goes on a trip to a spa in Yorkshire with her recently widowed mother, grandmother, and friend Hector Perot so that her mother can recover from her mourning period. When they arrive, Aggie and Hector learn that a woman who was staying there died the previous week. As they start investigating that death, another client of the spa dies under mysterious circumstances. Aggie and Hector join together with their new friend George to investigate these deaths and figure out what is going on at the spa.

This was another great Aggie Morton mystery! Aggie Morton is like a young Agatha Christie. Her friend, Hector, is similar to Christie’s character Hercule Poirot, and Aggie’s grandmother is like the Christie character Miss Marple. I love seeing these nods to her classic characters.

This mystery kept me guessing until the end. The answer was right there the whole time, but it was someone who I didn’t suspect. I’m always pleased when the solution to a mystery surprises me.

The Dead Man in the Garden is a great middle grade mystery!

Thank you Tundra Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book.

Truly excellent and engaging story. This would make a great read-aloud for younger children and a page turning book for those old enough to read alone.
The author has lush, descriptive text that makes you feel enveloped and cozy. I loved the plot and setting of this book, and was so happy it was staged in a hotel- one of my favorite settings!

Young Aggie is whip smart, brave and a great detective. I love the relationship between her and her best friend Hector and they make it easy to keep reading, and guessing at suspects, deep into the night.

Fabulous series, in which I now need to read all of these books!

Another great book in the series. Aggie Morton is perfect for the children of adult mystery fans, but will suit anyone who is looking for a good mystery series for middle-grade readers.

I just love this series! Aggie Morton is such a fun character and I love seeing what she is going to get up to!

I fell in Loe with Aggie Morton last year, so much so that I wrote a whole paper for my grad program on the murderous things that happen in the pages of this middle grade series.

THE DEAD MAN IN THE GARDEN is book 3 of the series & a perfect read as we wrap up al the summer feels. Like her previous stories, Aggie stumbles upon a dead body...but this time, there's more than one. What's supposed to be a relaxing getaway spa trip turns into an active murder investigation.

Jocelyn's reimagining of a young Agatha Christie is a new inspiration for young mystery readers & a sure way to usher them into the Queen of Crime's stories. This new addition to the series is no exception as Aggie continues to courageously solve murders with her friend Hector whose personality steals the show once again. Not only will this mystery keep readers guessing until the end, but it will keep them laughing along with Aggie and Hector's shenanigans.

Aggie and Hector are off on another adventure, this time to the Wellsprings spa in Yorkshire where Aggie's mother will receive treatment. Joining them for their trip is Aggie's intrepid grannie Jane, who constantly wars with her desire to engage in gossip and investigations but also seeks to protect Aggie's reputation. Wherever the trio go, murder seems to follow and sure enough, shortly after their arrival, they hear rumors of a prior guest of the spa who died on a nearby park bench shortly after leaving the spa. Their interest is piqued and continues to grow after a guest receives a mysterious phone call and is found dead a short while later. Aggie and Hector jump at the chance to investigate yet another murder and are determined to figure out if the victims are connected in any way and who would want to murder these two individuals.

Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Dead in the Garden is the third in a delightful middle grade series featuring eleven year old armature sleuth Aggie and her partner in detection, Hector. The real highlight of the series is the historical fiction elements and as a long time fan of Agatha Christie, I delighted in the the nod to two of the author's most infamous detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss. Marple. This newest adventure includes a fresh infusion of new, diverse characters, my favorites being the the wheelchair ridden but indominable George, and Miss Napoli, a woman who share's Aggie's morbid fascination with the dead. Everyone's favorite reporter, Augustus Fibley continues to anger members of the police force as he publishes more newspaper articles insinuating that 12 year old Aggie may be more skilled in the art of detection than the very individuals paid to solve crimes. The mystery itself was well plotted, with plenty of red herrings to keep readers guessing. I highly recommend The Dead in the Garden as well as the prior books in the serious for readers looking for a fun, lighthearted, historical mystery perfect for the fall.

Having not read the first 2 books in the series, I am reviewing this as a standalone.

Aggie Morton has a Morbid Preoccupation with death and murder. She is also apparently quite the detective, having solved similar crimes in her prior stories. Aggie, her mother, her gran and her friend Hercule (from Belgium) have journeyed to Wellspring Spa for her mother to gather herself after a long mourning period. When Aggie learns a prior guest of Wellspring died under mysterious circumstances, she feels compelled to investigate.

I enjoyed the characters in this book, especially Hercule, who is so clearly modeled after Dame Agatha's own. He is just as quirky, funny and smart as a whip as Agatha's and Aggie is one of those charming heroines who stands on her own and cares not for decorum and behaving "like a lady." Not to say she cannot but she does so on her own terms.

The mysterious plot was intriguing and I would enjoy another turn or two with Aggie and her friend.

Thank you to #NetGalley and @tundrabooks for an eARC of this book.

Fans of Aggie Morton have only a couple more weeks to wait until the third middle-grade murder mystery, THE DEAD MAN IN THE GARDEN, comes out on September 11th. The first book in the series, THE BODY UNDER THE PIANO, is the November selection for the MG Lit Online Book Club. I’m excited to talk to #MartheJocelyn and learn more about this Agatha Christie-inspired character.

This story takes place in 1903 in a Yorkshire spa where Aggie, her mother, grandmother, and friend Hector have gone for two weeks so Aggie’s mom can receive treatment. They quickly learn a woman who recently left the spa unexpectedly died on a nearby park bench, and rumours are still swirling about her death. But to make matters worse, a current guest at the hotel receives a mysterious phone call and is found dead a short time later. Aggie and Hector have their hands full, trying to figure out if the deaths are as innocent as people want them to believe and if there may be some connection between the individuals. Is someone trying to cover up a murder – or two – and why?

I don’t read a lot of middle-grade mysteries, but I really enjoy this series. I can never figure out the culprit on my own, but I love the red herrings that keep me guessing. I also like the historical fiction element, but most of all, I love the chemistry that Aggie and Hector have that makes their working relationship so successful.
I look forward to reading more Aggie and Hector adventures.

I received an advance copy of, Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden, by Marthe Jocelyn. This is a mystery for kids, the characters and the setting was great.

This review is based on an ARC received from the publisher and NetGalley. I've read and enjoyed the first two Aggie Morton books, but this one was easily the best so far. Two people died at a spa that Aggie and her family (and Hector) are attending, so she obviously has to investigate. This book is notably more inclusive and diverse, with the addition of George, a well-written and rambunctious boy in a wheelchair, along with Mr. LaValle, a Barbadian violinist. Another noteworthy character is Miss Napoli, an adult who shares Aggie's morbid fascinations and who learned to braid hair by practicing on corpses. It's also great that reporter Augustus Fibley continually posts news articles about how a 12 year-old girl has more investigative game than the police.

Aggie's mother was more of a character in this book and adds to Aggie's family dynamic by causing Aggie to wrestle with the idea that her widowed mother might come to love someone other than her late father. Her Grannie also continues to be a great character; curious about gossip and investigations, but trying to make sure Aggie doesn't go past her preferred social norms. Aggie herself is still the wonderfully morbid heroine who struggles against her social anxiety to help solve murders. Hopefully, she will continue to have many more adventures.

Iiked the
Pictures,names,characters and cover. I couldn't get interested k. The format I had. I also didn't like the dialogue or details. I couldn't get hooked

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. In exchange, this is an honest review.

I am absolutely delighted that I was picked to receive this ARC, having loved the first two books in the series. There's something incredibly fun about having a lark with an author you've loved since as a little girl in a fictional world where they too, are a little girl. If I were in the targeted age range for this book, I would have imagined myself as a plucky detective, looking for murders and mysteries to solve. I am not sure what friend I would have wrangled into this scheme with me, but I would have tried.

As an adult, I can appreciate the wittiness of Aggie's thoughts and the nods to some of Christie's two most beloved characters (Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple). There's also the time the author took to craft a powerful older female character in Grannie Jane. She's just so cool, and there are so many moments when she makes me giggle with delight. I think one of the best parts of this novel is the character of George. Albeit George needs to use a wheelchair, he doesn't mourn his disability as we usually see disabled characters do. He doesn't have a dream of having the ability to walk again. Instead, he is just as curious and clever as Aggie and Hector. His disability never holds him back, even at a moment when someone had thought they had the upper hand - he pulled through and was quite the hero. It's so important to have characters like him. He was just fantastic.

I loved how the author shared her inspiration for this book. It was really fascinating to see how she has used Agatha Christie's life to inspire her storylines. I really can't wait for the next one,