SuitabookThe Detention Detectives
Lis Jardine
- Reading
- If the murder premise may feel intense, read alongside the opening and pause after the body is discovered. Afterwards, discuss how humour, authority and consequences sit alongside the investigation.
- Themes
- Mischief and consequences: Jonno resents moving to Bristol and considers investigating a murder a form of top-grade misbehaviour; authority is described as continually looming. The book leaves its stance open to more than one reading.
- Violence beneath the puzzle: The pupils discover a teacher’s body and investigate a murder; the wider discussion describes morally complex stories in which deadly violence has lingering emotional impact. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Friendship amid change: Jonno has moved away from his friends, while Daniel and Lydia are sharply drawn supporting characters associated with the school mystery. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Be aware of a discovered body, murder, deadly violence, a pitched hospital-room battle, dirty dealing and a dodgy moneylender.