May Wong

May in The Ministry of Unladylike Activity

**May Wong** (also known as Wong Mei Li) is the second youngest child of the family, younger sister of Hazel Wong and Rose Wong, and older sister of Edward “Teddy” Wong. She is the daughter of Jie Jie and Vincent Wong, and is also the step-daughter of June Wong, Hazel’s mother. She is featured in the sixth and ninth book of the Murder Most Unladylike Series, A Spoonful of Murder, and Death Sets Sail, as well as in The Ministry of Unladylike Activity and The Body in the Blitz.

## Personality

May is a cheeky and feisty little girl that loves exploring and causing trouble.  She is adventurous and determined, and Hazel remarked one day she would probably have her own detective society, which turns out to be true. In the Ministry of Unladylike Activity series, it is established multiple times that she hates school and Deepdean. It is confirmed in the author's notes of The Body in the Blitz that she has ADHD.

## Storyline

### A Spoonful of Murder

May welcomed Hazel back when Hazel returned to Hong Kong for mourning her grandfather. During that period of time, May was constantly told off for misbehaving. She said multiple times that she wanted to help find Teddy, however Hazel refused to let her since she was so young. In the end, she, along with Rose, are glad to have Teddy back after everything.

### Death Sets Sail

May was thrilled to see Hazel again in Cairo, and very enthusiastic about the cruise. During the murder investigation, she was determined to help, despite her father's refusal and Hazel's hesitancy, by using her small size to her advantage and sneaking around the ship to find out information about the suspects.

### The Ministry of Unladylike Activity

This series features May, as well as Eric and Nuala, as our new detective heroes. The book begins with May and Eric running away from their schools, and pretending to be evacuees in Elysium Hall in order to find a Nazi spy. There, they meet Fionnuala, but don't get along with her at first, especially May. Soon after their arrival, a murder takes place, and Nuala reluctantly joins forces with Eric and May in order to figure out who the killer is, and who the spy is. As the story progresses, May and Eric become close friends, and May and Nuala learn to see each others strengths, despite their frequent quarrelling. After the murderer was arrested, May was sent back to Deepdean, this time joined by Nuala.

### The Body in the Blitz

May and Nuala reunite with Eric, after previously having part ways with him while they each go to their respective schools. They meet in Hogarth Mews, where they will be staying to advance their training with The Ministry as a last resort due to a shortage of spies. During the investigation, she was logical and clever, and she took risks, throwing herself into rather dangerous situations without much thought.

## Relationships

### Hazel Wong

Hazel is May's sister, who is older than her by nine years. May looks up to Hazel a lot a considers her a role model, which is most likely the biggest reason why May becomes a detective. Although May was eager to help Hazel during her investigations, Hazel was hesitant to let her due to her young age, but her friends convince her to let May help. After May starts her own detective society which begins solving their own murders, though, Hazel seems slightly more accepting of the fact that May is becoming a detective, but she still worries for her safety a lot.

### Fionnuala O'Malley

Nuala and May first met in The Ministry of Unladylike Activity, when May and Eric arrived at Elysium Hall. They originally get off to a bad start, because when Nuala heard that evacuees were coming, she assumed they'd be the same evacuees who used to be there, Bob and Bert, and was disappointed to see that they weren't. She acted rude and stand-offish, and in response, May acted mean and defensive. At the beginning of the book, Nuala was suspicious of May and Eric and decided to keep an eye on them, and spy on them to see what they were up to. After the murder, though they still argued a lot, they could work together and started to become friends.

### Eric Schlossbauer

May and Eric meet at the very beginning of The Ministry of Unladylike Activity, when they both show up to the same address they found; Eric found it by solving a crossword, and May by stealing it from Hazel. When they are refused entry, they decide to take matters into their own hands, and go to Elysium Hall together, while pretending to be evacuees with fake names to sound more English. They become close friends quickly, because they only have each other before Nuala joins their group. They are the only ones who know each other's real names and why they are here, and they work together.

## Trivia

* Her favourite bunbreak is egg waffles.
* Her maid is Ah Kwan but was temporarily Pik An
* She is obsessed with Ching Shih, a fearless pirate queen who fought the British and Portuguese.
* She has two pet beetles that she tied onto a string.
* She is featured in the new series, The Ministry of Unladylike Activity, which was published in 2022.
* She feels fearless towards snakes

## References

1. ↑ https://robin-stevens.co.uk/announcement-the-ministry-of-unladylike-activity-is-coming-in-2022/