Death Before Detention

Alison Weatherby author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Pan Macmillan

Publishing:25th Jun '26

£7.99

This title is due to be published on 25th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Death Before Detention cover

Welcome to the Common Criminals' Club, a new cosy murder mystery series for middle-grade and teen readers, full of doodles, danger and devious criminals - if you love Robin Stevens, Katie Kirby, Derry Girls, or The Mysterious Benedict Society, step right up: here's your next reading obsession!

This is the story of how we . . .
- Discovered a dead body
- Launched an investigation
- Battled mean girls, feral bats, and nearly destroyed our three-year friendship all in the noble pursuit of solving a complex murder


Mae Flynn is used to the chaos of her rural Irish Catholic boarding school, but she isn’t expecting to discover a dead body in the school kitchen. To make matters worse, the hapless victim, Conor Haddock, was the previous owner of the school building and had recently been talking about selling up, alongside getting on the bad side of seemingly every adult Mae knows. In other words: the suspects are endless.

Along with her best friends, the self-named Common Criminals' Club, Mae is determined to solve the murder. But the more she uncovers, the more she begins to suspect that everyone around her is hiding something. Soon it’s not only her lessons and friendships at stake, but her very life . . .

'A gripping rollercoaster ride full of compelling characters, mean-spirited fellow students, grumpy Guards and neurotic nuns … as well as a slightly puzzling corpse in the kitchen cooler! ... A truly exhilarating read with more twists than a mother superior’s rosary beads' -- Alan Nolan, author of the Molly Malone and Bram Stoker series
'Funny, clever, and sharp. A brilliant new take on the murder mystery boarding school genre. More please!' -- Pádraig Kenny, author of Tin and The Monsters of Rookhaven
'An exciting murder mystery full of twists and turns, with a modern-day boarding school setting, dark secrets and friendship dramas' * Natasha Mac a'Bháird, author the Sycamore Hill Mysteries *
'I LOVED Death Before Detention! The main character's voice is unlike anything I've read before in MG mystery and it draws you in from the very start. Clever, intriguing and so much fun, I'd recommend this book to any reader who loves Robin Stevens' * Sarah Webb, bestselling children's author *
'A witty, twisty murder mystery full of adventure, heart, and enough red herrings to shake a stick at' * Ann Sei Lin, author of Rebel Skies *
'Hilarious, twisty and fresh, Death Before Detention is a must-read for all murder mystery fans! The characters are intriguing and with all the red herrings and twists, I couldn't guess the murderer in this brilliant modern-day boarding school murder mystery' -- Niyla Farook, award winning author of Murder for Two * Niyla Farook, award-winning author of Murder for Two *

ISBN: 9781035084319

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

272 pages