Kicking off with a gripping 1940 report from young operative May Wong, Robin Stevens’ The Ministry of Unladylike Activity sets a tantalisingly characterful scene, and never lets up. Add to that the thrills of trying to figure out a Nazi spy mystery, and the immense satisfaction that comes of its resolution, and The Ministry of Unladylike Activity amounts to a unputdownable series starter.
“My name is May Wong I am ten years old (nearly eleven), and I have become a spy in order to save the world. That is true and not an exaggeration. Anything can happen in a war, and anyone can be a hero. Anyone any be evil too”.
It’s fair to say that May Wong’s path to becoming a spy is far from straightforward. After being turned away by the Ministry of Unladylike Activity, May and her new mate Eric refuse to take no for an answer. Rather, they hatch an ingeniously elaborate plan that sees them play the part of evacuees and go to Elysium Hall. Here they meet the rich Verey family and uncover web of secrets and spy activity as a murder takes place.
Suffused in the courage, resourcefulness and skills of its characters, and underpinned by a desire to end the war, so “everything will go back to the way it was before — or, no better”, The Ministry of Unladylike Activity is supremely satisfying.
The start of a thrilling new World War Two mystery series from the number-one-bestselling and multi-award-winning author of Murder Most Unladylike.
Britain is at war, and a secret arm of the British government called the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is training up spies.
Enter May Wong: courageous, smart, stubborn - and desperate to do whatever she can to help end the war, so she can go home to Hong Kong. May knows that there is no one more perfect to become a spy than a child. A child can go places, see things and listen in on conversations in a way that no adult ever can.
When May and her friend Eric are turned away by the Ministry, they take matters into their own hands. Masquerading as evacuees, May and Eric arrive at Elysium Hall, home to the wealthy Verey family. It soon becomes clear that one of the family is passing information to Germany. May and Eric know if they can gather enough evidence on their suspect, the Ministry will have to take them on.
But there are more secrets at Elysium Hall than May or Eric could ever have imagined.
And then, someone is murdered...
Watch the Robin Stevens introduce the series here:
As funny, clever, and warm as we've come to expect from Robin Stevens, The Ministry of Unladylike Activity is such a delight - Louise O'Neill
Robin Stevens is Agatha Christie for children: her books have all the rich satisfactions, all the twists and pleasures and the enormous delights of instant mystery classics. I am always hungry for the next one - Katherine Rundell
Author
About Robin Stevens
Robin was born in California and grew up in an Oxford college, across the road from the house where Alice in Wonderland lived. When she was twelve, her father handed her a copy of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and she realised that she wanted to be either Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie when she grew up. She spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies' College, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she'd get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn't). She went to university, where she studied crime fiction, and then worked at a children's publisher.
Robin is now a full-time author who lives in Oxford with her husband and her pet bearded dragon, Watson. She is the author of the bestselling, awardwinning Murder Most Unladylike series and The Guggenheim Mystery.
