Story Museum announces new exhibition

The Story Museum will open Mystery Academy: School for Young Detectives this summer, a new exhibition celebrating mysteries, detectives, sleuths, and subterfuge.

Catastrophe has struck at the Mystery Academy: School for Young Detectives. The brilliant Head Teacher - Christie Moyo - has mysteriously disappeared. Have you got what it takes to solve the mystery and find her? Find out at a new exhibition opening this summer at The Story Museum.

Mystery Academy will invite the next generation of super-sleuths to step inside a fictional detective boarding school, an experience framed by an original story from award-winning author Sharna Jackson. Follow clues, solve puzzles, and build detective skills to solve the case - or simply explore an inventive exhibition space that includes a forensics lab, a library and even a hidden door concealed in a bookcase.

Visitors will have a chance to explore the history of the detective genre, with some of their favourite characters and authors; from the classics like Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Morse, to contemporary authors such Robin Stevens’ Murder Most Unladylike and Mini Grey’s Hermelin and Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Author Robin Stevens has also provided additional creative consultation on the exhibition.

Meanwhile, object loans will bring to life the history of detecting. Visitors will discover early finger-print detecting kits, a camera designed to be concealed in a waistcoat and more.

Mystery Academy: School for Young Detectives has been designed, following a period of audience consultation, by The Story Museum’s Story Curators, a group of young people aged between 12-16 who work with the Museum’s professional production team in weekly sessions, after school in term time.

Conrad Bodman, The Story Museum’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to be opening this stunning new interactive exhibition, which celebrates the history and rich variety of the detective genre.

“Young people are at the heart of our collections and exhibitions, so who better to ask to design our next exhibition than the young designers of the future? Our Story Curators, whose curiosity, energy, and talent has filled a brand-new exhibition that young detective fiction fans will love; it will also no doubt enthuse and entertain those new to the genre, and those who simply love great stories.”

Author Sharna Jackson said: ‘It's been an honour to collaborate with the Story Curators on Mystery Academy – it’s been such a collaborative, imaginative and fun process. Together we’ve created an experience where visitors arrive for a seemingly normal school open day, then quickly find themselves cast as detectives...(dun dun dun!)

“At the heart of it is headteacher, Miss Moyo, a character who believes that curiosity is a strength and that the best clues are often hiding in plain sight. That idea really shaped everything – this is a mystery that rewards looking closely, thinking differently, and trusting your instincts.

“I love a compelling mystery because they invite readers – and now visitors – to be active, to question and to notice. Mystery Academy is about looking closely, making connections, and enjoying the satisfaction of solving something yourself.”

Robin Stevens said: “I'm so delighted that my characters and I will be part of the upcoming Mysteries exhibition. The Story Museum is such a special place, and one I've loved for years - I'm delighted that they're putting the mystery genre front and centre of this new exhibition. I know this will spark so many readers' imaginations, and allow children to see themselves as the brave, smart, thoughtful detectives they all are!”

‘Mystery Academy: School for Young Detectives’ opens on Saturday 18 July at The Story Museum, Oxford. For more information, visit: @Storymuseum