Review: The Body under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn

The Body under the Piano
by Marthe Jocelyn; illustrated by Isabelle Follath

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition
Pages: 336
Publisher: Tundra Books
Publication date: February 2, 2020
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fiction, mystery
Series: Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen (#1)



From the publisher:

"A smart and charming middle-grade mystery series starring young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, inspired by the imagined life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. For fans of Lemony Snicket and The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency.

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.

Filled with mystery, adventure, an unforgettable heroine and several helpings of tea and sweets, The Body Under the Piano is the clever debut of a new series for middle-grade readers and Christie and Poirot fans everywhere, from a Governor General’s Award–nominated author of historical fiction for children."

A middle grade mystery series inspired by young Agatha Christie?? Yes yes YES. I was so excited to read this one! 

I think the historical setting and the characterizations were my favorite parts. I loved going around Aggie's turn-of-the-century town with her as she gathered clues. And Aggie and Hector are such cute little mystery-solving pals. It's fun to follow along as they try to do some important work in an age where all the adults were trying to get them to leave things alone. I loved young Hector/Hercule and his proper finicky ways even more than I loved young Aggie/Agatha, I think.

The mystery was well done, and I was definitely deceived at first! I did manage to piece it together before the reveal, but it was satisfying to see how it all came together. Some of the book I felt moved a little slowly, but I was definitely into the parts where it picked up.

There is quite a lot of detail put into some rather gruesome elements (the effects of a poisoning, dead bodies both human and animal, brains leaking out, etc) - Aggie is based on a mystery writer in the making, after all, and she does a lot of thinking about these shocking things she sees, describing them in her head with a mystery writer's touch. Some readers may be turned off by this, but I think most readers who are interested in a historical mystery are going to be just fine with it. My middle-grade-age self would have been ALL about this - I loved the morbid and macabre and all that good stuff (aaand maybe I still do).

Overall, I thought this was a brilliant idea for a book and I'm looking forward to joining Aggie and Hector for another mystery in the next book in the series, Peril at Owl Park, due out in September 2020!


Final verdict: I liked it! I thought this book was good! I enjoyed reading it and I would probably recommend it to others.

{ Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

New Release Round-Up: January 5-11, 2015

Young Adult


All the Bright Places
by Jennifer Niven

Release date: January 6, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 384
Publisher: Knopf
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, romance



From Goodreads:

"The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this compelling, exhilarating, and beautiful story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister's recent death.

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

This is an intense, gripping novel perfect for fans of Jay Asher, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Gayle Forman, and Jenny Downham from a talented new voice in YA, Jennifer Niven."

Vivian Apple at the End of the World
by Katie Coyle

Release date: January 6, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 272
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Suggested tags: young adult, science fiction



First in the Vivian Apple series. From Goodreads:

"Seventeen-year-old Vivian Apple never believed in the evangelical Church of America, unlike her recently devout parents. But when Vivian returns home the night after the supposed "Rapture," all that’s left of her parents are two holes in the roof. Suddenly, she doesn't know who or what to believe. With her best friend Harp and a mysterious ally, Peter, Vivian embarks on a desperate cross-country roadtrip through a paranoid and panic-stricken America to find answers. Because at the end of the world, Vivan Apple isn't looking for a savior. She's looking for the truth."

Other YA new releases for this week:

Middle Grade


Alistair Grim's Odditorium
by Gregory Funaro

Release date: January 6, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 432
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fantasy



First in the Odditorium series. From Goodreads:

"This cinematic, action-packed middle grade fantasy adventure set in Victorian London brims with fresh magic and has the cozy feeling of a classic.

Grubb, age twelve (or thereabouts), has never known anything beyond his miserable existence as a chimney sweep, paid only in insults and abuse by his cruel master.

All of that changes the day he stows away in the coach belonging to a mysterious guest at the inn that he is tasked with cleaning. Grubb emerges from Alistair Grim's trunk and into the wondrous world of the Odditorium. Fueled by a glowing blue energy that Grubb can only begin to understand, the Odditorium is home to countless enchanted objects and an eccentric crew that embraces Grubb as one of their own.

There's no time for Grubb to settle into his new role as apprentice to the strange, secretive Mr. Grim. When the Odditorium comes under attack, Grubb is whisked off on a perilous adventure. Only he can prevent the Odditorium's magic from falling into evil hands-and his new family from suffering a terrible fate.

Grubb knows he's no hero. He's just a chimney sweep. But armed with only his courage and wits, Grubb will confront the life-or-death battle he alone is destined to fight."

The War that Saved My Life
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Release date: January 6, 2015
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 320
Publisher: Dial
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fiction, 20th century



From Goodreads:

"An exceptionally moving story of triumph against all odds set during World War 2, from the acclaimed author of Jefferson’s Sons and for fans of Number the Stars.

Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.

So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

This masterful work of historical fiction is equal parts adventure and a moving tale of family and identity—a classic in the making. "

Other Middle Grade new releases for this week:

New Release Round-Up: September 8-14, 2014

Young Adult


Falling into Place
by Amy Zhang

Release date: September 9, 2014
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 304
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary



From Goodreads:

"On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road.

Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect? Amy Zhang’s haunting and universal story will appeal to fans of Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and Jay Asher."

Paper Airplanes
by Dawn O'Porter

Release date: September 9, 2014
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 272
Publisher: Amulet Books
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction



First in the Paper Aeroplanes series. From Goodreads:

"It's the mid-1990s, and fifteen year-old Guernsey schoolgirls, Renée and Flo, are not really meant to be friends. Thoughtful, introspective and studious Flo couldn't be more different to ambitious, extroverted and sexually curious Renée. But Renée and Flo are united by loneliness and their dysfunctional families, and an intense bond is formed. Although there are obstacles to their friendship (namely Flo's jealous ex-best friend and Renée's growing infatuation with Flo's brother), fifteen is an age where anything can happen, where life stretches out before you, and when every betrayal feels like the end of the world. For Renée and Flo it is the time of their lives.

With graphic content and some scenes of a sexual nature, PAPER AEROPLANES is a gritty, poignant, often laugh-out-loud funny and powerful novel. It is an unforgettable snapshot of small-town adolescence and the heart-stopping power of female friendship."

Other YA new releases for this week:

Middle Grade


The Iron Trial
by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

Release date: September 9, 2014
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



First in the Magisterium series. From Goodreads:

"From NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a riveting new series that defies what you think you know about the world of magic.

From two bestselling superstars, a dazzling and magical middle-grade collaboration centering on the students of the Magisterium, an academy for those with a propensity toward magic. In this first book, a new student comes to the Magisterium against his will -- is it because he is destined to be a powerful magician, or is the truth more twisted than that? It's a journey that will thrill you, surprise you, and make you wonder about the clear-cut distinction usually made between good and evil."

Nest
by Esther Ehrlich

Release date: September 9, 2014
Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 336
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fiction, 20th century



From Goodreads:

"For fans of Jennifer Holm (Penny from Heaven, Turtle in Paradise), a heartfelt and unforgettable middle-grade novel about an irresistible girl and her family, tragic change, and the healing power of love and friendship. In 1972 home is a cozy nest on Cape Cod for eleven-year-old Naomi “Chirp” Orenstein, her older sister, Rachel; her psychiatrist father; and her dancer mother. But then Chirp’s mom develops symptoms of a serious disease, and everything changes.

Chirp finds comfort in watching her beloved wild birds. She also finds a true friend in Joey, the mysterious boy who lives across the street. Together they create their own private world and come up with the perfect plan: Escape. Adventure. Discovery.

Nest is Esther Ehrlich’s stunning debut novel. Her lyrical writing is honest, humorous, and deeply affecting. Chirp and Joey will steal your heart. Long after you finish Nest, the spirit of Chirp and her loving family will stay with you."

Other Middle Grade new releases for this week: