Cuando la madre de Justina muere, su padre la envía a Highbury House, un colegio privado solo para chicas de la alta sociedad. Su padre es abogado, especializado en juicios por asesinato, y está demasiado ocupado para cuidar de ella él solo.

Justina ha sido educada en casa, así que la transición es un shock. Mientras se acostumbra a vivir allí, a las otras chicas y al uniforme, el terrible asesinato de una criada altera la normalidad del colegio. Justina intentará descubrir la verdad, no solo del asesinato, sino también sobre su nueva «enemiga», la angelical Rose, al mismo tiempo. Pero cuando una tormenta aísla la escuela del mundo real, el recuento de cadáveres comienza a aumentar, y Justina se da cuenta de que necesitará la ayuda de sus nuevas amigas para encontrar al asesino antes de que sea demasiado tarde...

I read this as a buddy read with Hilary (& her daughter) over the same 3 days.

I really liked this children’s mystery. It was fun to try another Elly Griffith’s book. I love her Ruth Galloway series. I did end up liking a standalone book by her too. I wasn’t as wowed with the first book of her series that takes place in Brighton and like this book is also historical fiction.

I think I do prefer this author’s books that are set in the present time though. This one (and the Brighton book) didn’t have enough period details for me. At times I forgot that this was supposed to be taking place in the 1930s. An English child might know but a child in the U.S. might just think that what seemed foreign to our time might just be British.

I loved the floor plan map of the boarding school. I enjoyed the atmospheric setting. The described cold felt palpable and I wanted to read when in a warm room!

I loved the humor from the start. The humor is great!

I loved the characters. Justice is a wonderful new character. I appreciated everything about her and if I’d read this as a child I know I would have identified with her except I would have never felt that brave. The mystery/murder details seemed a little intense to me for a children’s mystery but maybe they’re fine. Normally I’d say this book is for readers age 8-12 but because of some of the happenings, particularly for sensitive children, I might recommend this for 10 or 11 and up. The reading level is fine for younger readers.

I thought that the mystery/mysteries were well crafted. The only thing about it that irked me is it was obvious that one glaring thing was supposed to be able to be guessed by readers before Justice figures it out and since Justice is interested & and involved and very bright, that didn’t seem completely realistic.

I loved how it was explained in the author’s note at the end of the book that the fictional boarding school in the book is based on a real boarding school her mother attended (and disliked) in the 1930s.

I’d love to read the rest of this series and I’ve adds the second book (to be published this May) but as I’m in the United States I don’t think I’ll get the opportunity to read more of the books in this series. I am looking forward to book 12 in the Ruth Galloway series but I’d love more of Justice too! ( )

There’s a long tradition of girls’ boarding school stories in the UK (I spent many happy hours at Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers as a child and still do from time to time as an adult), and of course a long history everywhere of girl detectives (my favourite being Flavia de Luce, of course); naturally, when Elly Griffiths decided to try her hand at a children’s book, she decided to combine the two into one. Twelve-year-old Justice Jones has been sent to the Highbury House School for the Daughters of Gentlefolk following the death of her mother and almost immediately learns of the mysterious death of a housemaid not too long before her arrival; of course, she must investigate, but first she has to learn how Things Are Done in a boarding school, including how to make friends…. Ms. Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway books are still my favourites among her works, but Justice is a close second: bright, tenacious and with an avid attention to detail, the reader is immediately drawn to root for her. Not that she’s perfect, of course; for example, she’s completely hopeless at all sports, something anyone who has read English boarding school series will tell you is a serious drawback for success in that setting! The secondary characters are all quite entertaining, although some are rather vaguely sketched out. As a whole, a very satisfying book, suitable for anyone over the age of, say, 12; it’s my understanding that a second book is planned (but no more than that), and I’m looking forward to meeting Justice again in the future! ( )

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! ( )