Lis Jardine

Lis Jardine

Murder Mystery novelist age 9-13

Also writes as

Elisabeth Jones
lisjardine.com
Booking enquiry
Lis Jardine - author tools

Available for

Workshop, Talk, Reading, Interview, Commission a book

Audiences

Age 7 to 11, Age 11 to 14

Genres

Crime, Fiction, Humour, Mystery, Suspense-thriller

Book types

Fiction 8-13

Awards

Details

Lis’s school visits are primarily designed for students at KS2 and KS3, ideally Y5 – 8.

A range of offerings are listed below with prices.

All visits will need to be made on a Thursday, because of Lis’s part time job as a school librarian.

Assembly presentation

“I give a talk with professionally-produced slides about my journey to publication and why I write murder mysteries, including an interactive audience activity. This can last between 45 mins – 1 hour plus 15-20 min of pupil questions, depending on your own timetable.

“There is no maximum audience size. I will need a big screen and laptop.

“This can be followed by a signing session (book pre-orders can be arranged with myself or local bookshops in advance of the visit).”

Workshops

“Each workshop will cater for up to 25 students aged 9-12. I will need a whiteboard/screen and laptop for slides.

“I can offer 55 minute workshops on the theme ‘Writing a short detective story’ with custom worksheets and a slide presentation.”

Fees

£150 for one session + expenses
£280 for two + expenses
£400 for three + expenses
£450 for four + expenses

Lis will charge mileage of 45p/mile if your school is outside Cheshire, UK.

Testimonials

Emma Baber, year 6 Class Teacher, The Mead School:

The children really enjoyed listening to Lis read her extract and loved finding out which type of detective they were!’ 

The Chiltern Bookshops schools team:

‘School visits with Lis are always tremendous fun! Her passion for being both a reader and a writer shines through and her engaging presentation style really brings The Detention Detectives to life. The children especially enjoyed finding out what type of detective they were, as well as getting the opportunity to meet Lis and have their books signed’.

A. Allcock, Literacy Lead at a Crewe Secondary School:

‘I thought the workshop was very powerful. A lot of our students struggle to think imaginatively but with [Lis’s] support were able to come up with ideas that I don’t feel they would have felt confident to explore in a ‘normal’ lesson.’

I thought your talk was excellent!  It was a very honest approach to being an author and covered all aspects of the process of writing and getting published.

J. Clemson, School Librarian, Warrington:

Your presentation was brilliant and the Powerpoint slides really engaged the students.  I felt that this was evident in the number of students that asked questions at the end of the talk.  The worksheets that you produced for the workshops worked really well too and made writing stories more manageable for students. 

Books by Lis Jardine

Inspired by the Golden Age crime queens I read as a teenager, I write murder mysteries suitable for Middle Grade and young teens. Murder comes to Hanbridge High, and three Year Seven misfits want to solve the crime: New boy Jonno hopes playing detective will convince his parents that moving to Hanbridge was a big mistake. School reporter Lydia thinks her news story will sweep everything else off the front page. And young carer Daniel needs the police to arrest the right culprit - for his mum's sake. A perfect next read for fans of Sharna Jackson's The High-Rise Mysteries, Fleur Hitchcock's Murder in Midwinter, and Robin Stevens' Murder Most Unladylike.
9780241523384

The Detention Detectives

Murder comes to Hanbridge High, and three Year Seven misfits want to solve the crime: New boy Jonno hopes playing detective will convince his parents that moving to Hanbridge was a big mistake. School reporter Lydia thinks her news story will sweep everything else off the front page. And young carer Daniel needs the police to arrest the right culprit - for his mum's sake. They may not be friends, but they're about to become. . .The Detention Detectives. 
9780241523407

The Detention Detectives: Murder by Mistake

Headstrong LYDIA leads the new case. As a school reporter, she’s great at getting the facts. But when someone unexpected arrives at Gran’s, it’s clear she’s missing some clues… Sensitive DANIEL is convinced this case is linked to their first. As a young carer he’s got a lot on his plate, so he needs the trio to work on this together. He just needs to persuade… Not-so-new-boy JONNO, who’s settled in at Hanbridge High. But he’s so distracted by his new band – maybe solving crimes just isn’t cool anymore? Or maybe he’s scared of finding out the truth… 
9780241691762

The Detention Detectives: Talent for Trouble

The Detention Detectives may have solved their last case, but when a local teen disappears they suddenly realize the two are connected. The problem is . . . Star Trek superfan DANIEL takes the lead, but his anger towards their main suspect might be getting in the way of their investigation. Music-lover JONNO is totally distracted by the school talent competition. And it may seem silly to the others, but Daniel’s got the people skills and Lydia’s got the brains - so do they even need him? School reporter LYDIA has a separate unsolved crime to deal with, and a newspaper to edit too! She really doesn’t have time for the boys’ dramas… Can Daniel bring the Detectives together to crack their BIGGEST case, before it’s too late? 
9780008744892

Time Travel Telephone

Annie Edwards has uncovered a hidden alcove in the kitchen. Inside is an old telephone, and when she lifts the receiver to her ear there’s a message from the past … and a mystery to solve. Who is the woman on the other end of the line, and why does no one know what happened to her? Ask the author and Book talk questions invite the reader to think more deeply about the themes in the book and reflect on their reading experience. Online lesson plans provide guidance in using this book in a range of settings, including independent, social and whole-class reading – all designed to support the reader to connect with the book and encourage a positive attitude to reading. 

Keywords

MURDER