Robin Stevens (born 15 January 1988) is an American-born English author of

children's fiction Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, best known for her ''

Murder Most Unladylike ''Murder Most Unladylike'' is a 2014 children's mystery novel by British-American author Robin Stevens. It follows two schoolgirls in 1930s England solving their first murder mystery and is the first book in the 'Murder Most Unladylike' series. ...

'' series. She has spoken of the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. The Golden Age proper is, in practice, usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was pre ...

as an influence on her work.

Early life

Stevens was born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England at the age of three. She has dual US and UK citizenship. She attended

The Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

and

Cheltenham Ladies College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to pr ...

. Her father, Robert Stevens, was Master of

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, and her mother worked at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

. Her grandfather was the literary critic Wayne C. Booth. Stevens studied

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

, later gaining an MA in

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. She appeared as Captain of the Warwick University team on University Challenge.

Career

Before becoming a full-time author, Stevens worked as a bookseller at

Blackwell's Blackwell UK, also known as Blackwell's and Blackwell Group, is a British academic book retailer and library supply service owned by Waterstones. It was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Henry Blackwell, after whom the chain is named, on Broad Street, ...

bookshop in Oxford, and as an editor at

Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...

. Stevens started writing ''

'' as part of

National Novel Writing Month National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo ) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes creative writing around the world. Its flagship program is an annual, international creative writing event in which participants att ...

in November 2010, but did not send it to agencies for two years. Stevens has cited the

as an influence on her work – particularly the authors

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh (; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Det ...

, Margery Allingham, and

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

. In November 2020 she announced that she was to have a new book out in August 2021, called ''Once Upon a Crime''. She also announced that there would be a new book (the first of a new series), coming out in 2022. The ''Ministry of Unladylike Activity'' will star Hazel Wong's (read below) little sister and two other characters, as yet to be named. This new series is set during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

''Murder Most Unladylike''

Stevens's eleven book series ''Murder Most Unladylike'' consists of schoolgirl detectives, Hazel Wong and Daisy Wells, as they solve murders, as well as personal things. Hazel falls in love with American boy Alexander Arcady, as Daisy struggles with her feelings for other girls. She eventually comes out to Hazel as she falls for Martita Torrera in book seven, ''Death In The Spotlight'', and begins a relationship with Amina from Deepdean during "Death Sets Sail". As well as ten full-length murder mysteries, there are also six mini mysteries featuring these characters. Stevens has vocalised how she believes

LGBTQI+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is an ...

relationships are not portrayed in children's literature at all, and not enough in literature in general, and so she has made many of the characters LGBTQ+. The series is set in the 1930s, sparking the Golden Age references. It also focuses on period-typical

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

Awards

Works

Series

* ''The Murder Most Unladylike Series'' ** ''Murder Most Unladylike'' (2014) ** ''Arsenic For Tea'' (2014) ** ''First Class Murder'' (2015) ** ''Jolly Foul Play'' (2016) ** ''Mistletoe and Murder'' (2016) ** ''Cream Buns and Crime: Tips, tricks and tales from the Detective Society'' (2017) ** ''A Spoonful of Murder'' (2018) ** ''Death in the Spotlight'' (2018) ** ''Top Marks for Murder'' (2019) ** ''The Case of the Drowned Pearl'' (2020) ** ''Death Sets Sail'' (2020) ** ''Once Upon a Crime'' (2021) * The Ministry of Unladylike Activity Series ** The Ministry of Unladylike Activity (2022)

Standalone

*''The Guggenheim Mystery'' (2017), a sequel to ''

The London Eye Mystery ''The London Eye Mystery'' is a children's mystery novel by English author Siobhan Dowd. First published in 2007, it tells the story of how Ted, a boy with Asperger syndrome, and his sister Kat, solve the mystery of how their cousin, Salim, seemi ...

'' by

Siobhan Dowd Siobhan Dowd (4 February 1960 – 21 August 2007) was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, ''Bog Child'', posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book for ...

Contributor

*''Mystery and Mayhem: Twelve Deliciously Intriguing Mysteries'' (2016) *''Return to Wonderland: Stories Inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice'' (2019)

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Robin 1988 births English children's writers Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College People educated at The Dragon School Alumni of King's College London British women children's writers