Plotting the Perfect Crime: Writing a Detective Story

Ideal for 9-14-year-olds

The Event
Do you know some of the personality traits required to be the protagonist of a detective story? Persistence, creativity and problem-solving skills are at the top of the list.

Taking inspiration from her middle grade book Bad Things Happened Here, children’s author Moniza Hossain will illustrate the elements of a mystery novel. Using those elements as puzzle pieces, you will have the chance to construct the outline of your very own detective story with its problem-solving main character. There will be an opportunity at the end to share your ideas and creativity with the group.

About Moniza Hossain
Moniza Hossain is a Singaporean author based in Manchester. She writes books for kids ranging in age from three to twelve and older. Her debut book Street Puppy Masjid Cat, released in 2025 with Little Bee Books was shortlisted for the Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2026. This year, picture book Ritu in the Sun with Penguin Random House, and the middle grade novel Bad Things Happened Here with Holiday House are published.

Book Info
About Bad Things Happened Here

Lonely twelve-year-old Sam Wells has never known his mother. So when his maternal grandmother calls with a plane ticket to Singapore, he hopes the trip will give him the answers he’s been looking for. But his imposing family home isn’t what he expected. His grandmother is a stranger. Spiders crawl over impassible mounds of hoarded mementos. The house is such a labyrinth that Sam can barely make his way through the boxes, let alone find out anything about his mom.

Until he meets her ghost, frozen in time at age twelve.

Something terrible happened when Priya Malhotra was just a schoolgirl in Singapore. Something twisted enough to keep her trapped. Something that might be happening again. Children are going missing as they did decades before in Sam’s eerily unsettling neighbourhood . . . and the closer Sam gets to the terrifying truth that lurks within the haunted, abandoned factory where the original crimes occurred, the more it seems that Sam will be the next to disappear.

To save himself, he’ll have to untangle the mystery. But if he does, will he lose his mom forever?

Tickets

Children under 12 must have an adult with them at all times. Babes in arms do not require a ticket.

• Adult or Child Financial Aid Ticket: £4
  For anyone who would otherwise be unable to attend on a standard ticket

• Adult or Child Standard Ticket: £5
  The regular ticket price, covering the cost of your place at the event

• Adult or Child Pay It Forward Ticket: £6
  If you're able to pay a little more, your extra £1 helps subsidise Financial Aid tickets

About Storytale Festival

Since 2019, Storytale has run its annual children’s storytelling festival right in the centre of Bristol. We believe that all children should have the chance to be inspired by the power of stories, whether told, heard, read or watched. Our festival aims to be affordable, diverse, and supportive of our amazingly talented local writers and artists.

To find out more about Storytale Festival, and any other events and activities we’re cooking up, visit our website at https://www.storytalefestival.com/

Directions
We The Curious is in Millennium Square in the centre of Bristol. There is plenty of cycle parking, it is a short walk from many city centre bus stops and 20 minutes from Bristol Temple Meads. You could also get a ferry!

If you are travelling by car, the venue is within the Bristol Clean Air Zone so you may incur a fee if you use a vehicle. There is a car park directly underneath the venue, with 22 blue badge spaces and lifts for access. Use BS1 5LL to get to Millennium Square Car Park.

More details of how to reach the venue are here Getting here | We The Curious

About the venue
We The Curious is an interactive science museum, with a cafe, shop and main entrance. Storytale Festival is on the top floor, accessible from the side door that opens out onto Millennium Square, very near the shiny metal Planetarium. Look out for our signs and volunteers who will show you where to go.

Once you are in the door, there is a lift to the top floor, with accessible toilets and a large main room (The Rosalind Franklin Room). There will be buggy parking, a cloakroom and activities in that space. The events will mainly be taking place in rooms that immediately join onto the main room. There is also a balcony space outside. You can see photos of the spaces and take a virtual tour on the We The Curious website: Rosalind Franklin Room | We The Curious and The Annexe | We The Curious

We will have headphones and a sensory space.

Storytale Festival tickets DO NOT allow you entrance into the museum itself. You can buy museum tickets here Ticket information | We The Curious

You can see more details about the venue, entrance, facilities etc here AccessAble - Your Accessibility Guide

Location

We The Curious, BS1 5HL