Review: A Schooling in Murder: The gripping new WWII historical mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London

A Schooling in Murder: The gripping new WWII historical mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's 1945. Monkshill Park School for Girls is one of those establishments that appeals to the snobbish while treating the girls as unpaid skivvies and worse than children in an orphanage (although TBH that might just be the food in the 1940s in England LOL).

The book is narrated by Annabel Warnock, a teacher at the school who went away on holiday and never returned. Her fellow teachers assume she just left but we and Annabel know she didn't leave, she was murdered (by person(s) unknown), pushed over a cliff, and her body has been swept down river and out to sea.

For some unknown reason, Annabel can move about freely within the school grounds IF she had visited that place before her death, but if she hadn't previously entered a room, she can't now.

The school is a Petrie dish, all those female hormones inclose proximity. There are same sex relationships, conducted in secret for fear of being sacked, bullying by some girls, blackmail, poison pen letters, theft, intimidation, you name it.

Alec Shaw, the first male ever male teacher at the school, has come as a substitute teacher. Annabel discovers that he is the only person she can communicate with as she can 'hijack' his typing when he is typing his fledgling detective story. After a number of false starts she manages to convince him that she is not a figment of her subconscious, and enlists him in her search for her murderer. But the list of suspects is long. Could it be the surly gardener/former poacher who goes by the charming nickname 'Tosser'? What about the surly young nephew of the school cook Stephen who Annabel was trying to get into a local boys' grammar school? What about the local deserter Sam Crisp, son of the school cleaner? Could it be one of the school bullies Venetia and Rosemary? Could it be someone from Annabel's past - she had impressive qualifications but was forced to take the job at Monkshill after an unfortunate incident at her school?

I have loved Andrew Taylor's Ashes of London series so when I saw this new historical mystery I jumped at the chance to request an ARC. All I can say is 'huh?'. I don't really get this and I am left with a vague suspicion that it is misogynistic - although thinking about it the only character of any note who comes across as even halfway decent is Alec Shaw - and he has spent time in prison for embezzlement - so maybe it is just a book filled with unlikeable characters. Even characters who were supposedly friends turn out not to be.

I turned to my husband when I was 85% through this book on my Kindle and said 'I don't understand the point of this book' and I have to say after finishing it I am still baffled. I think the idea of having a 'ghost' able to overhear other peoples' discussions and/or read private correspondence felt too omnipotent and then this had to be reined back with the odd rule that she couldn't visit somewhere she hadn't before, and couldn't leave the school grounds. Also, why was she a ghost but there weren't any others drifting around?

Also, I thought the murderer's identity was fairly obvious, despite the plethora of red herrings, I just thought the motive was a bit left field.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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