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The Body Under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn Review

 Hello Friends :)

I hope today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

I recently found out about a middle grade mystery series that's inspired by the be Agatha Christie's beloved mystery series, and I was really excited to dive right in and give it a try.

Today I'm excited to share my review with you all of the first book in the series, and I hope you'll all stick around to find out what I ended up thinking about it.

The Body Under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn:


Source: Libby App

Publisher: Tundra Books

Publication Date: February 4th, 2020

Genre: Middle Grade/Mystery

Series: Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen


Synopsis:


Aggie Morton lives in a small town on the coast of England in 1902. Adventurous and imaginative but deeply shy, Aggie hasn't got much to do since the death of her beloved father . . . until the fateful day when she crosses paths with twelve-year-old Belgian immigrant Hector Perot and discovers a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room! As the number of suspects grows and the murder threatens to tear the town apart, Aggie and her new friend will need every tool at their disposal -- including their insatiable curiosity, deductive skills and not a little help from their friends -- to solve the case before Aggie's beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime Aggie is sure she didn't commit.

(synopsis from goodreads)


My Review:

I was really drawn to reading this one after finding out that it's inspired by Agatha Christie, and always being on the lookout for great middle grade reads. This one ended up not being quite what I was initially expecting, but I still enjoyed it overall and thought both the characters and the mystery were really well developed, and helped the story feel both entertaining and original.

As far as mysteries go, this one was pretty spot on, and although I had a feeling quite a ways ahead of time who the culprit was, I still thought the reveal and conclusion were both done really well. I also enjoyed Aggie's infectious spirit, and the fact that she has family that's very involved in her life, even if they may not always agree with her decisions. Her and Hector's friendship was a great element to the series, and I look forward to seeing how that's going to grow and expand in future titles.

I do want to mention however, that this one is actually a lot more morbid than I initially expected when I first picked it up, and I'm not sure I'd personally recommend it for really young readers. As well, I had a couple of content issues that I wasn't expecting, and I think I would have personally enjoyed the story much more without them. 

Overall, a good and entertaining mystery, and one that intrigued me enough to want to continue on with the series.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.


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