Mondays Are Murder – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Mystery, murder, betrayal, gripping, intrigue.
YA book title: Mondays Are Murder.
YA author: Ravena Guron.
Genre: Crime fiction, YA.
Published by: Usborne.
ISBN: 9781805075707.
Recommended for children aged: 14+ year-olds.
First published: Paperback February 2025.
This children’s book is ideal for: KS4 crime fans.
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Our review:
Seven days.
Seven threats.
Monday is coming.
Seventeen-year-old Kay and her family left her sleepy hometown of Longrove a year ago after the tragic deaths of both her best friend Ivy and beloved Aunt Sandra. Kay swore she’d never return and was determined to put the devastating events—and her guilt—behind her.
When her parents go away on an anniversary cruise and refuse to let her either come along or stay at home by herself, Kay finds herself reluctantly back in Longrove, forced to stay with her still-grieving Uncle Dara and tech-savvy cousin Nikki for a week.
Before she fell ill, Aunt Sandra was an amateur detective. As Kay and Nikki look through her belongings, they discover that Sandra was immersed in a new mystery at the time of her death—one that involved Ivy’s presumed accidental death after she received a series of anonymous, threatening notes.
Kay’s plans to get through the week as uneventfully as possible are further thrown out the window when she receives her own chilling note:
Get ready for the next week, because we’re going to play a game…
There’s going to be…
a thrill on Tuesday,
a wreckage on Wednesday,
treachery on Thursday,
a fire on Friday,
sabotage on Saturday,
a stabbing on Sunday—
and your murder on Monday.
Initially dismissing the note as a cruel practical joke, Kay is forced to take it seriously as the week goes on and the grisly predictions start to come true. Kay soon has a long list of suspects who may wish to harm her, including old friends, new enemies, and the all-powerful town Committee.
Time is quickly running out, and unless Kay can unmask her mysterious tormentor, the worst day of the week will also be her last…
Mondays are Murder is an intricately plotted and immersive mystery novel. Author Ravena Guron’s previous YA novels This Book Kills and Catch Your Death were both bestsellers and BookTok favourites. Established Guron fans will find a lot to relish in her new book, and newcomers to her work will soon be searching out her earlier titles. The well-developed side characters, atmospheric small-town setting, and twisting plot will keep readers gripped right up until the satisfyingly unexpected ending.
A large-scale marketing and publicity campaign is planned for the book’s launch. The darker elements of the storyline and references to death and terminal illness make the book suited to an older readership.
Mondays are Murder is an absorbing, fast-paced thriller that will appeal to fans of Holly Jackson’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder and classic Agatha Christie mysteries.
Many thanks to Usborne for the review copy.
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