Just So Stories

Hachette Australia

Imprint: Laurence King Publishing

Oct 28, 2025 | 9781510231924 | RRP $26.99

It’s been a pretty murder-y sort of week this Halloween special so it seems only apt to add this terrific book into the mix. How did I, Agatha Christie tragic that I am, never realise that there are Agatha puzzle books!!??? Inconceivable! Be assured, now that I know such animals exist I will be putting them on my own Xmas list. Just as you should put this one on your kiddos’ list for either your collection, or as a stocking stuffer for a budding sleuth in your own circle.

This one will stay with me for when I take my usual break from blogging over the festive season so that I can work my way diligently through every single puzzle. I’ve worked out a few but it will take some time to complete them all, and I wanted to save some of the pleasure, although I’ve read all the scenarios. This bodes well for keeping your young detectives occupied during the school holidays or while they wait for the next excitement over the festive season.

With the premise that Agnes has discovered a box of Agatha Christie mysteries in her aunt’s attic and immediately become hooked on them [didn’t we all from the very first read?], and in her enthusiasm recruiting three friends to form the After School Detective Club, readers can follow along with the club’s investigations, unravel the clues, solve the puzzles, crack the codes and generally use all their powers of observation and their quick wits. There is a wide range of puzzles and while some are relatively simple e.g. mazes of varying complexity or working out patterns, others require more analysis, and as Hermione would say ‘This isn’t magic. It’s logic!’ with careful consideration of all the clues or possibilities. If you take a look at the sample pages, you’ll see immediately what I mean.

There is backmatter with all the solutions but I’m sorry I can’t tell you what it’s like because, having said I have yet to complete all the puzzles, I’m not spoiling it for myself!! You will just have to take my word for it, realising that I’m a very reliable witness.

Because it has been created in collaboration with the Agatha Christie estate, it is very authentically worded and plotted to suit the overall tone of the original books, albeit on a kid level e.g. there is an attempted murder not an actual one and certainly not gruesome. And, as you would expect, the original mysteries are referenced frequently e.g. the 4.50 from Paddington, or Marymead village.

With the slew of detective stories for kiddos from even 7 or 8 years old, this is just a fabulous way to bring the Queen of Mystery’s astonishing canon to new generations, as well as providing them with rich fodder for problem solving and cognitive skills. As a sidenote, if you’ve not yet read Lucy Worsley’s bio of Agatha, I can highly recommend it. This one gets a top shelf 5 🕵️🕵️‍♀️🔍🕵️‍♀️🕵️rating for all nascent young investigators from around Year 3 upwards easily to Year 7.