Review: Loyalist to a Fault (The Dead Kid Detective Agency #3) by Evan Munday

Title: Loyalist to a Fault

Series: The Dead Kid Detective Agency #3

Previous books in this series: The Dead Kid Detective Agency (#1) | Dial "M" for Morna (#2)

Author: Evan Munday

Genre: Middle Grade, paranormal, mystery

Publication date: September 2015

Published by: ECW Press

Source: For review from publishers via Netgalley

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Synopsis:

October Schwartz and her five deadest pals are back.

When October Schwartz raises her five dead friends to investigate the cause of Cyril Cooper’s death way back in 1783, she expects a dull research-based journey into the lives of Canada’s earliest British settlers, the United Empire Loyalists. You’d think our favourite teen detective would have the hang of this solving-mysteries thing by now, but when a ghost pirate appears on the scene, October may be in over her head.

The ghost pirate — or someone in a very convincing costume — is thieving key evidence at every turn, beating October to the goods time and again. Worst of all, Valentine’s Day is looming, and October’s friends seem more concerned about secret admirers than secret conspiracies. As October digs deeper into the mystery, she starts to suspect the pirate may be someone very close to her, just as she uncovers facts regarding her long-missing mom and the meaning behind a cryptic message from a past case.

The Dead Kid Detective Agency’s third quest is a veritable bouquet of misadventures that weaves the American Revolution, a beyond-chaotic school dance, a historic sea vessel, and a boatload of supernatural shenanigans into one unforgettable madcap adventure.

My rating: ★★★★☆
So, I’ve never really been a huge fan of history, which is unfortunate because there was a lot of that in this book. It made it kind of bleh for me. But all of that was balanced out with the fact that this is such a fun read with an amazing voice! It also has a great mystery, by the way. You know I always love that ;)

Review: Dial 'M' for Morna (The Dead Kid Detective Agency #2) by Evan Munday

Title: Dial 'M' for Morna

Series: The Dead Kid Detective Agency #2

Previous book in this series: The Dead Kid Detective Agency

Author: Evan Munday

Genre: Middle Grade, paranormal

Publication date: October 1st, 2013

Published by: ECW Press

Source: The publishers via Netgalley (thank you!)

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis:

As the Dead Kid Detective Agency embarks on its second (mis)adventure, October Schwartz and her five deadest friends are back, turning over metaphoric rocks and finding the centipedes underneath. In this latest volume, set against a backdrop of yuletide pandemonium, they discover dark supernatural forces at work in Sticksville and sleuth their way through a mystery involving a blizzard of suffragettes, ice skating disasters, anti-Asian sentiment, and the Titanic. Although the holiday season has descended upon the town like an eggnog rainstorm, October has no time for candy canes or mistletoe. She’s busy dealing with an oddly pleasant new history teacher, her two living friends’ new roles as high school radio DJs, and mysteries to be solved before the year end. October and her ghost friends are hot on the trail of those responsible for Morna MacIsaac’s death in 1914—or as hot as one can be on a 100-year-old trail—when Yumi becomes the target of a sinister harassment campaign at school. Solving dual concurrent mysteries at once won’t be easy, but the intrepid heroine in black eyeliner loves a challenge.

My rating: ★★★★☆
In "Dial 'M' For Morna," we've got a double mystery for The Dead Kid Detective Agency! First we try to find out who killed Morna. Second, October, Yumi, and Stacey are victims of a hate crime, and the question is... Who dunit? And oh my gods, there is a connection between both mysteries, believe it or not! It really surprised me.

Review: The Dead Kid Detective Agency by Evan Munday

Title: The Dead Kid Detective Agency

Series: The Dead Kid Detective Agency #1

Author: Evan Munday

Genre: Middle Grade, mystery, paranormal

Publication date: October 2011

Published by: ECW Press

Source: The publishers via Netgalley (thanks!)

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Synopsis:

Thirteen-year-old October Schwartz is new in town; short on friends and the child of a clinically depressed science teacher, she spends her free time in the Sticksville Cemetery and it isn’t long before she befriends the ghosts of five dead teenagers, each from a different era of the past. Using October’s smarts and the ghosts’ abilities to walk through walls and roam around undetected, they form the Dead Kid Detective Agency, a group committed to solving Sticksville’s most mysterious mysteries. So when the high school’s beloved French teacher dies in a suspicious car accident, it provides the agency with its first bona fide case, putting them in the midst of a murder plot thick with car chases, cafeteria fights, and sociopathic math teachers, and sending them on an adventure that might just uncover the truth about a bomb that exploded 40 years ago.

My rating: ★★★★★
October just moved to a new town with her clinically depressed father where she will be starting a new life at a new school. To make things worse, she’s only 13 and she’ll be entering high school already (yeah, she’s that smart! She skipped a whole grade at her old school). Because she has an affinity for the color black and she likes to read in the cemetery, she’s considered a “freak.” High school kids can be such jerks! But I like October :) She’s a pretty cool kid. Anyway, as she’s starting to settle in, there is a murder that takes place…and it is someone October was starting to know and actually like (I don’t want to give too much away ;))Even though it seemed like a very tragic accident, October suspects that there was more to it. And thus the Dead Kid Detective Agency was born! October and the ghosts of 5 dead kids around her age try to figure out who and why they committed the murder.