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Death Before Detention
- Author
- Alison Weatherby
- Narrator
- Avena Mansergh-Wallace
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 25 June 2026
- Run Time
- 5 hours 41 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Welcome to the Common Criminals' Club, a new cosy murder mystery series for middle-grade and teen listeners, full of danger and devious criminals. If you love Robin Stevens, Katie Kirby, Lottie Brooks, or The Mysterious Benedict Society, this Thursday Murder Club for 9-12 year olds is your next obsession!
This is the story of how we . . .
- Discovered a dead body
- Launched an investigation
- Battled mean girls, feral bats, and nearly destroyed our three-year friendship all in the noble pursuit of solving a complex murder
Mae Flynn is used to the chaos of her rural Irish Catholic boarding school, but she isn’t expecting to discover a dead body in the school kitchen. To make matters worse, the hapless victim, Conor Haddock, was the previous owner of the school building and had recently been talking about selling up, alongside getting on the bad side of seemingly every adult Mae knows. In other words: the suspects are endless.
Along with her best friends, the self-named Common Criminals' Club, Mae is determined to solve the murder. But the more she uncovers, the more she begins to suspect that everyone around her is hiding something. Soon it’s not only her lessons and friendships at stake, but her very life . . .
Critics Review
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'This is one of those books where the voice sparkles from the very first page. Funny, fresh and filled with mystery, I can see this book being devoured by fans of Murder Most Unladylike and Pamela Butchart'
Chris Edge, author of Escape Room
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'Funny, clever, and sharp. A brilliant new take on the murder mystery boarding school genre. More please!'
Pádraig Kenny, author of Tin and The Monsters of Rookhaven
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'Crackling with energy, pace and more jokes than even Sherlock Holmes could keep track of, Weatherby's a fantastic new voice in upper middle-grade. Crime shouldn't be this much fun . . .'
Dave Rudden, author of the Knights of the Borrowed Dark trilogy
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'A gripping rollercoaster ride full of compelling characters, mean-spirited fellow students, grumpy Guards and neurotic nuns … as well as a slightly puzzling corpse in the kitchen cooler! ... A truly exhilarating read with more twists than a mother superior’s rosary beads'
Alan Nolan, author of the Molly Malone and Bram Stoker series
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'With an irresistible heroine and a fantastically distinctive voice, this funny, twisty mystery will appeal to 9+ Robin Stevens fans'
The Guardian
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'An exciting murder mystery full of twists and turns, with a modern-day boarding school setting, dark secrets and friendship dramas'
Natasha Mac a'Bháird, author the Sycamore Hill Mysteries
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'I LOVED Death Before Detention! The main character's voice is unlike anything I've read before in MG mystery and it draws you in from the very start. Clever, intriguing and so much fun, I'd recommend this book to any reader who loves Robin Stevens'
Sarah Webb, bestselling children's author
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'Hilarious, twisty and fresh, Death Before Detention is a must-read for all murder mystery fans! The characters are intriguing and with all the red herrings and twists, I couldn't guess the murderer in this brilliant modern-day boarding school murder mystery'
Niyla Farook, award-winning author of Murder for Two
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'A witty, twisty murder mystery full of adventure, heart, and enough red herrings to shake a stick at'
Ann Sei Lin, author of Rebel Skies
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'Packed with plot twists and teenage intrigue'
Children's Books Ireland Inis Magazine
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‘Having gathered all the evidence (and interrogated a few gossipers), I can confirm that The Common Criminals’ Club is not just suspicious - it is guilty of delivering a phenomenally clever, daringly deadly, and wildly addictive boarding school mystery. Pure class!’
Eve McDonnell, author of Elsetime
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Darkly comic
The Times
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Alison Weatherby
- Narrator
- Avena Mansergh-Wallace
- Duration
- 5 hours 41 minutes
- Release Date
- 25 June 2026
- ISBN
- 9781035084333
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Crime and mystery: cosy mystery, Children’s / Teenage fiction: School stories
Synopsis
Welcome to the Common Criminals' Club, a new cosy murder mystery series for middle-grade and teen listeners, full of danger and devious criminals. If you love Robin Stevens, Katie Kirby, Lottie Brooks, or The Mysterious Benedict Society, this Thursday Murder Club for 9-12 year olds is your next obsession!This is the story of how we . . .- Discovered a dead body- Launched an investigation- Battled mean girls, feral bats, and nearly destroyed our three-year friendship all in the noble pursuit of solving a complex murderMae Flynn is used to the chaos of her rural Irish Catholic boarding school, but she isn’t expecting to discover a dead body in the school kitchen. To make matters worse, the hapless victim, Conor Haddock, was the previous owner of the school building and had recently been talking about selling up, alongside getting on the bad side of seemingly every adult Mae knows. In other words: the suspects are endless.Along with her best friends, the self-named Common Criminals' Club, Mae is determined to solve the murder. But the more she uncovers, the more she begins to suspect that everyone around her is hiding something. Soon it’s not only her lessons and friendships at stake, but her very life . . .
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