Will Shakespeare Mysteries: The Pearly Pants

Published on 25 August 2026 at 08:48

Will Shakespeare Mysteries: The Pearly Pants

🔎😂🏹🏰

by Kaz Penney

★★★★★

At a glance

Things I loved:

✍🏼 Author: Kaz Penney

🎨 Cover artist: Sammy Elgie

📅 Release Date: 27th August 2026

📚 Book type: Illustrated chapter, 256 pages

🌟 Reader level: Growing

😂 Just the right amount of silliness
🔎 A hilarious historical mystery
🏹 Barbarian-filled Scottish adventure
🎨 Brilliant illustrations on every page
💩 Smells, bogeys & poo!
🏰 Packed with Tudor history

Dive Deeper

My Thoughts...

I was sent Will Shakespeare Mysteries: The Pearly Pants by Andersen Press in exchange for an honest review, and I’m so grateful! I wouldn’t usually have picked this book up (I tend towards longer, older chapter books), but I ended up genuinely loving it!

While the first book definitely provides some useful backstory to the characters and their adventures, I think this can still be enjoyed as a standalone read.

I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Yes, it’s silly, but it’s just the right amount of silliness to make readers chuckle while keeping the main focus on the mystery. The short chapters are brilliantly pacey and kept me turning the pages, while the illustrations are absolutely genius.

Every page is packed with fun and hilarious artwork that really brings the story to life. I also loved Tybalt’s running commentary and interruptions, which added another brilliant layer of humour!

And on top of all the fun, this book is actually overflowing with subtle but fascinating facts about life in the 16th century. It would make a brilliant class read for children studying the Tudors or 16th-century England and Scotland.

🌟I’d absolutely recommend this to growing and confident readers who enjoy funny, easy-going mysteries, plenty of laughs and fantastic illustrations. A brilliant little surprise of a read!🌟

Blurb

When my best friend Tybalt and I accidentally volunteered for the school archery trip to Scotland, I thought things couldn’t get any worse . . .

But now, a terrible crime has been committed at the Scottish castle and we have to find out:

Who are the three witches?
Is Gracious Dunkin still alive? And who stole his pants?
And what on earth is ‘death by thistle’?

I’m in a haggis load of trouble!