The Man in Black & Other Stories by Elly Griffiths

 

First Line (from The Man in Black): Ruth loves the bookshop at Jarrolds.

 

There is truly something for everyone in Elly Griffiths' The Man in Black & Other Stories, especially if you're already a fan of her books featuring Ruth Galloway, Max Mephisto, Justice Jones, and Harbinder Kaur. 

Readers will get to experience Harbinder Kaur's first day on the job, Justice Jones as a 21-year-old private detective in London, and a few featuring Ruth and Nelson. There's even a story from the point of view of Ruth's cat, Flint.

The nineteen stories feature Scandinavian traditions, psychological suspense, love and loss, mini cozy mysteries, and some spine-tingling ghost stories. I think I read most of this book with a smile on my face.

My favorite stories? The very first one in the book, The Man in Black. I was enchanted by the very first line: "Ruth loves the bookshop at Jarrolds" and it got even better from there. A nameless forensic archaeologist made me smile in Articulation, and Flint's Fireside Tale was a treat.

If you're already an Elly Griffiths fan, this book is a must-read. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading one of her books, this may be the perfect introduction. She's one of the best writers of crime fiction today, so don't miss out!

The Man in Black & Other Stories by Elly Griffiths

ISBN: 9781529420494

Quercus © 2024

Hardcover, 320 pages

 

Short Story Collection

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon UK.

A Girl Called Justice: The Ghost in the Garden by Elly Griffiths

 

First Lines: September 1937. "It seems strange to think we'll be third years," said Stella. "Yes," said Justice. "I thought I'd get expelled long before this."

 

Justice Jones and her friends are third-year students now at boarding school, and there's a new girl in their group. Leticia has never been to school before, and although she doesn't care for rules, the teachers don't seem to mind! She decides that Justice is going to be her particular friend, much to the dismay of Justice's closest chums, Stella and Dorothy.

 

The girls in Justice's school group sneak out to the barn one night for a midnight feast and see a ghost in the garden. Then one of the girls disappears and ransom notes appear, torn from the pages of a crime novel. Now Justice has to find the missing girl and learn the identity of her kidnapper.

 

~

 

Although written for children between the ages of nine and eleven, I enjoy reading Elly Griffiths' Justice Jones series, too. I really get the feel for life in an English boarding school in the 1930s, and the mysteries are fun to solve. 

 

I'm reminded of Harry Potter whenever one of the job positions at the boarding school is mentioned, and Justice finds even more hidden rooms in the huge old mansion. I can't resist hidden rooms... 

 

It's a good thing that Justice has good reasoning skills because they're put to the test with her friends. The new girl, Leticia, monopolizes Justice, and Stella and Dorothy become quite upset. Justice finds it's not easy trying to keep everyone happy. 

 

I'm looking forward to the next book, one, to see if the teachers continue trying to knock some of the independence out of this young sleuth, and, two, to see how one of the characters deals with her good news. If you're a fan of Elly Griffiths' adult mysteries, don't be surprised if you enjoy this series for younger readers, too. Indulge your inner child!

A Girl Called Justice: The Ghost in the Garden by Elly Griffiths

ISBN:  ‎ 9781786541338

Quercus Children's Books © 2021

Paperback, 200 pages

 

KidLit, #3 Justice Jones mystery

Rating: B

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 

A Girl Called Justice: The Smugglers' Secret by Elly Griffiths

 

First Lines: January 1937. The dark shape of Highbury House was getting closer and closer.

 

It's spring term at the Highbury House boarding school for young girls, and second-year students like Justice Jones are expected to perform good deeds in the village each week. Justice is assigned to blind World War I veteran Mr. Arthur. She finds herself enjoying spending time in Smuggler's Lodge talking with Mr. Arthur and reading the newspapers to him. The food the housekeeper gives her is much superior to the dreck served at Highbury House, too, and Justice couldn't be happier when he asks her to help him solve a mystery.

But when Mr. Arthur dies unexpectedly, Justice finds herself with questions she needs to answer. Why wasn't Mr. Arthur given a proper military funeral? Why doesn't the new Matron at Highbury House know much about first aid? And what secrets does Smuggler's Lodge really hold?

~

When I discovered that one of my favorite authors, Elly Griffiths, was writing a series of mysteries for nine to twelve-year-olds featuring a young sleuth named Justice Jones, a girl who's attending a boarding school on the Romney Marshes of England's south coast, I decided those nine to twelve-year-olds were not going to have all the fun. I quickly discovered that this children's series is every bit as good as the series Griffiths writes for adults. 

The setting of the Romney Marshes reminds me of a favorite childhood Disney program starring Patrick McGoohan, Dr. Syn Alias the Scarecrow, and the landscape and its history of smuggling are perfect for this series. Justice Jones' father is a criminal lawyer, and her recently deceased mother wrote crime novels. With that sort of parentage, it's no wonder that this young girl has a mind like a steel trap. The boarding school with its Tudor Era cellars beneath a Victorian mansion is perfect for all sorts of late-night wanderings as Justice has midnight feasts with her classmates or tiptoes up to her friend Dorothy the maid's room in the attics.

Having the second-year girls perform good deeds each week in the local village is a perfect way to lead Justice straight into a mystery-- although there's already one in Highbury House itself. When our intrepid young sleuth learns that Mr. Arthur lives in Smuggler's Lodge, a former lighthouse that's supposedly haunted, she dismisses the idea immediately. After all, "in her experience, saying that a place is haunted is often a ruse to stop people going there."

 

Adults as well as children will be kept entertained by Justice's investigations as she treks between Smuggler's Lodge and Highbury House to answer all the questions she writes down in her journal every night. Who killed Mr. Arthur, and why? Why didn't he have a military funeral? Why doesn't the new Matron at school know much about first aid? And will she ever get a real speaking role in one of the school plays?

 

Although it makes me supremely happy that I was never sent to a 1930s English boarding school, Elly Griffiths' Justice Jones series is just plain fun, no matter your age. I highly recommend it.

 

 

A Girl Called Justice: The Smugglers' Secret by Elly Griffiths

ISBN: 9781786540577

Quercus © 2020

Paperback, 220 pages

 

KidLit, #2 Justice Jones mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon UK.

A Girl Called Justice by Elly Griffiths

First Line: As soon as she saw the school, Justice Jones knew that it had potential for murder.

In October 1936 after the death of her mother, homeschooled Justice Jones finds herself bundled up and taken to the Highbury House Boarding School for the Daughters of Gentlefolk. The twelve-year-old finds no comfort in the fact that the place bears a resemblance to Dracula's castle or that the taxi driver muttered "good luck" when he left her at the doorstep. Inside, the place is freezing cold, Matron insists that her first name is Joan, the food is rubbish, and some of the girls are decidedly mean. But Justice knows that she must-- and will-- endure.

She even finds a thing or two to occupy her mind. Why does the school seem to be covering up the murder of a chamber maid? And why has the angelic-looking Rose made herself into Justice's nemesis? It's a tricky business trying to discover the truth about the maid while circumnavigating all the school rules, but with the help of a new friend or two, Justice is determined to get the job done-- even when a snowstorm cuts the school off from the rest of the world.

Since I am a long-time fan of Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway mysteries, how could I resist reading her first mystery for children? As you can see, I couldn't, and I found a delightful story that many adults are bound to enjoy.

Justice's voice pulled me right into the story, which includes blueprints of the school, her journal entries, and secret messages. Griffths has created a good mystery to solve, and I have to admit that when the villain was revealed, I couldn't believe that I missed the clues that had been planted along the way.

A Girl Called Justice isn't all about the mystery, however. Readers watch Justice as she learns how to exist as part of a group, and they may even laugh in sympathy as she discovers she has no skill at athletics. In addition, the setting is superb; I think I was frozen solid the entire time I was reading it-- which brings up a question. Why on earth (in so many British-set books that I've read in my lifetime) do people insist that living in icy conditions will "toughen a person up"? Especially when most of the students being toughened up were suffering horrible colds. It makes no sense to me.

But no matter. I loved the setting, the mystery, and the character of Justice Jones. I wouldn't be at all surprised if I read the next book in the series as well!

A Girl Called Justice by Elly Griffiths

ISBN: 9781786540591

Quercus © 2019

Paperback, 230 pages

Middle-Grade Children's Historical Mystery, #1 Justice Jones mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon UK.