Whilst thinking about this blog post I considered what had made me interested in mystery/crime stories and what had been available when I was a child. The answer seems to be a mix of film and television memories and then an introduction to authors such as Agatha Christie. What I did not have was a wide range of children’s books that were written in this genre. I am thinking about the early 1960s, so books tended to be historical, family and general adventure stories and although they were often well written, they did not offer the range of themes that we are used to today.
I am delighted by the range of mystery titles that are available now and particularly this move to writing for younger audiences. This title is the first in a series called “Christie and Agatha’s Detective
Agency” and is aimed at the 7-9 year age group. the two heroines are twin sisters, but very unlike each other in character. Christie is the scientific and adventurous one, while Agatha is the reader and dreamer; but put them together and you have the perfect detective team. When they are invited to a special tea-party, they are excited about meeting Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but also a guest is Alexander Fleming, who is about to announce a new discovery. When his evidence disappears it is up to the girls to find out what happened and retrieve the ‘mouldy sandwich’, which of course was harbouring penicillin, or as Fleming calls it “Mould Juice”.
I am delighted that the author has been kind enough to share some of her thoughts about the book, based on a series of questions that I asked.
Book Tour Questions for Pip Murphy
1. Have you always had an interest in mystery stories? If so, who were your favourite authors as a child?
Yes! I loved anything with mysteries and twists (and still do!). I of course read all of the Enid Blyton books and was particularly into her Adventure series with all the animals and exciting locations, like ruined castles.
I read my first Agatha Christie book (Murder on the Orient Express) when I was 11 and immediately ran off to the library and charity shops to track down the rest of her extensive mystery collection!
2. What makes twin sisters Christie and Agatha great heroines?
They’re both very relatable and they compliment each other so well!
Christie is outgoing and will ask questions and take action to move the situation along when Agatha would be too shy.
On the other hand, Christie sometimes leaps to impossible conclusions and can be too frank with her opinions, so she needs Agatha’s thoughtfulness and sensitivity to balance this out.
Both sisters recognise each others skills and trust each other a lot. I think it’s important to know and trust in your friends’ strengths, just like Christie and Agatha do.
3. How does your experience travelling inspire the settings in this series?
I love travelling by train so you might notice a few trains in future books! Being from a coastal town, the occasional seaside location is also a must. When I researched how long certain journeys would take, though, it made me very grateful for today’s speedier transport… although if you’re not in a hurry, taking in beautiful landscapes is a treat in itself!
4. Have you discovered any evidence that Alexander Fleming and Arthur Conan Doyle actually met in real life?
Unfortunately I don’t think the two ever did meet! Conan Doyle was already hugely famous when Fleming was still a child, and Fleming’s important discovery wasn’t really developed until after Conan Doyle’s death. I’m sure that, as a medical man, though, Conan Doyle would have been very interested in penicillin and supportive of its development.
One fun fact is that when the real Agatha Christie went missing, Conan Doyle tried to hire a medium to find her. It’s an extremely Conan Doyle thing to do!
The great writer also had connections to some other famous historical figures who you might well meet in future books…
5. I’m looking forward to the release of book 2, Of Mountains and Motors. What can we expect from the rest of the series?
Thank you! Well, the first two books take place in the British Isles but in future books we’ll also be crossing overseas to solve mysteries in mainland Europe and two other continents as well.
We’ll also be meeting exciting historical figures including inventors, aviators, composers, actors — and more scientists, too, of course! They all have baffling problems but luckily Christie and Agatha’s Detective Agency is there to lend a hand.
You should also look forward to seeing more of Auguste, the Belgian boy who is introduced at the end of A Discovery Disappears. He’s definitely one of my favourite characters in the series!
Author Biography
Pip Murphy is a British writer and lived her early life in England on the Wirral. She studied Classics at Edinburgh University, after
which she moved to Tokyo, Japan.
Pip is also an English teacher and has loved reading her whole life – some of the books that influenced and inspired her the most
were ones she read when she was little (she even read every book in her primary school, some of them more than once).
A Discovery Disappears
By Pip Murphy, Illustrated by Roberta Tedeschi
Publication Date: 02 September 2021
Price: £6.99
ISBN: 9781782268147
Format: Paperback
Extent 128pp
Reading Age From 7 to 9 Years
Series Christie and Agatha’s Detective Agency
especially for the genre that surrounds crime and mystery writing. When this is then widened to include beings such as dragons, werewolves and vampires, then you can expect to have an exciting time.
Kitamura, David Roberts and Chris Riddell, with the use of very fine ink outlines and the use of shading to create the atmosphere and perspective. There are other illustrations throughout the book, most of which introduce us to characters, or provide a sense of concern about what is about to happen. This is very much about accepting people for themselves and realizing that being different can be a positive thing. I am definitely looking forward to more adventures with this enterprising duo.
There is something quite fascinating about pirates and even ex-pirates; the stories have been sparking the imagination of readers both young and old for many years. As a child my first encounter with the idea was watching episodes of ‘Captain Pugwash’ on the television and then later on discovering the wonders of ‘Treasure Island’. If I thought really hard about it, I am sure that there were other pirates in books, but I definitely remember those to be found in the swashbuckling adventures of actors such as Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster; Sunday afternoon was full of old films that kept us happy on a cold winter’s day. Today we have the whole range of films such as ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘The Goonies’, as well as a host of books for all ages. As a librarian for a School Library Service I was constantly being asked for collections of titles about pirates and whilst there are lot of amazing titles about real-life buccaneers, it is also fantastic to be able to create imaginary worlds with a wide range of characters. This would definitely have been part of my collection at work..
the cabin boy aboard the vessel “The Black Hound” , but the crew are not what you might expect. They are all ex-pirates and have become ‘Pirate Investigators’ who help retrieve stolen treasure. This second adventure sees them asked to retrieve a precious gold goblet that has been stolen from Fergus McSwaggers, the chief of one of the clans in the Boglands; the only problem is that he is the brother of the cook on board the ‘Black Hound’ and they have not spoken for quite a while. The plot deepens as they try and discover who has stolen the goblet. The consensus is that it was probably a giant cat-like creature called the Mogdrod, that is feared but rarely seen and is said to love shiny things. When Flyntlock, his friend Red and the rest of the crew are captured by Gretel the Sea Witch, they discover that Mogdrod is her ‘Kitty’ and that she had taken the goblet. To further complicate the story, the treasure is then taken by the Ice Pirates and it is up to the crew to rescue it again.
Derek Keilty lives in Belfast and is the author of over ten books for children. His work has been translated into many different languages, selected for the Richard and Judy Club and shortlisted for the Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year.
Mark Elvins lives in Yorkshire. When he’s not drawing pirates he’s a print-maker and recently won an English Heritage competition to illustrate the displays at Whitby Abbey.