Children’s Book Week Review
Eleanor Jones is NOT a Murderer by Amy Doak
Notable for the Children’s Book of the Year – Older Reader category.
Eleanor Jones has just started at her ninth high school in less than five years. Since she and her mum are always moving on, Eleanor likes to stay on the outer, to stay invisible. So maybe it’s just bad luck that the very first person she talks to at Cooinda Secondary College, Angus Marshall, is stabbed and left for dead the same day. The last message on Angus’s phone is from Eleanor Jones. After being interviewed by the police, Eleanor realises they don’t have all the facts and decides to investigate. In trying to understand what happened to Angus, Eleanor inadvertently becomes involved with an eclectic group of fellow students – all of whom have their own reasons to want to solve the mystery. As they slowly unravel Angus’s secrets, Eleanor discovers the true meaning of friendship — and uncovers a danger lurking at the heart of the town…
Teen murder mystery books are a popular genre, and this book is a really enjoyable one.
Eleanor Jones is a bit of a wanderer who moves a lot with her mum – Min a nurse. They have settled into a smallish town (it’s big enough to have a hospital) and on her first day at the new school offers to help another student with his biology work. In the way of a good murder mystery, this ties Eleanor into the mystery/murder/danger. This character (Angus) is at the centre of strange deaths and going-ons in town.
Eleanor develops friendships with other people at the school – Troy (an old friend of Angus), and Alfie (Troy’s friend), along with Namita (a very intense student who is focussed on school…except when she is pulled into the mystery and sort of flirting), and finally bad-boy (maybe?) Ethan.
This book is in many ways more focussed on Eleanor than it is on the mystery, but the characters are all interesting and I would like to spend more time with them. Some YA mysteries get so dense with mystery that they feel overwhelming. This novel is a good one to read if you’re not sure if you want to dive into mystery books. And if you do enjoy it, there is a sequel coming out in July. The narrative is tight, we know only the characters we need to know and only what is pertinent to Eleanor or the story. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel to spend a little more time with these characters.
