AustLit

'Do you want to talk about a fictional murder in a book or do you want to talk about the actual murder that happened under our roof?'

'Ruth is less than thrilled to be spending the weekend at the family farm visiting the ancient GG, her coolly distant step-grandmother. With no internet or phone coverage, she occupies herself by re-reading old Agatha Christie novels, eavesdropping on the adults and definitely not daydreaming about her sort-of-cousin Dylan.

'But when GG dies under suspicious circumstances, Ruth's dull weekend turns into an enforced-family-holiday-slash-possible-murder-investigation – and she's not about to let the police get in the way of her chance to solve a real-life murder mystery. With Dylan as the Watson to her Holmes, Ruth soon discovers that plenty of people had reasons to be rid of GG, and her list of suspects grows to comprise everyone in the house, including, in the interests of fairness, herself.

'The thing about family holidays is that you've got to be prepared for fights.' (Publication summary)

'Lucy is just a regular teenager with regular worries: homework, friends, getting home for dinner on time. Oh, and there’s the small matter of how she’s going to tell her mother about her unplanned pregnancy.

'So when she first hears about Drake’s College, a school for students with magical talent, she’s sure someone’s messing with her. But despite her scepticism, she’s soon swept up into a world beyond her wildest imaginings—and now she’s got something else to hide.

'At Drake’s, Lucy befriends Jack, a teacher’s assistant who has secrets of his own. More concerningly, Lucy’s ‘talent’ doesn’t seem to be materialising, and one of the other students collapses in a mysterious incident. There’s danger in the air…

'Populated with charming characters, and laugh-out-loud funny at times, The Not So Chosen One is a clever, rollicking ride.'  (Publication summary)