Jess is a scholarship student at an elite boarding school, when Hugh, one of the wealthiest among the already affluent student body, is found dead. Jess has a personal interest in the case, not least because of her best friend having an affair with the deceased - but because a short story that Jess wrote formed the premise of the murder.

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This was a really addictive read, I read it in two sittings over the space of twenty four hours. Fast-paced, compelling and well thought out - this had all the elements of a successful murder mystery. Given how well-populated the “student gets killed at elite boarding school” genre is, i was pleasantly surprised at how unique the authors twist on the tale was - it takes real skill to pick a familiar genre and put your own twist on it, let alone for a debut novel.

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I will say I think this book weakened in the middle. I guessed the murderer pretty early on (which I didn’t actually mind, because I was so intrigued by the storyline) but it felt like, in an attempt to create red herrings, the author didn’t know how to create filler content and it sort of just… went all over the place. It wasn’t badly written per say, but it definitely distracted from the main storyline and felt wholly unnecessary.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy xo

Hugh Henry Van Boren is murdered at his very posh private school. Jessminder, one of the scholarship students is sent a text message soon after thanking her for the inspiration. What follows is a brilliant YA book full of red herrings and edge of your sweaty mystery.

This enjoyed this immensely.

You know when you pick up a book, start to read the first few pages and instantly know it’s going to be great? It was an immediate hit with me, and I mean immediate. First page down and I knew it was going to be a big one. One I didn’t want to put down, couldn’t tear myself away from and couldn’t stop thinking about.

I do love a Murder mystery, high school drama, private school centred plot and this one was great. I did have to laugh at the characteristic and stereotypical ‘Toff’ like last names of a lot of the characters though, if you didn’t know most of the characters came from money and a privileged background, their names would give it away!

I also loved that there was an interactive element for you to mirror Jess, the main character, near the end of the book to brainstorm and write down who you thought the murderer was. Physical copies of the book have a few dedicated notebook style pages for you to jot down on as well as the e-book version having a QR code you can scan which takes you to a YouTube video which sums up some of the facts gathered from throughout the book. What a fab idea!

There was a tonne of plot twists and turns and I was so eager to find out whodunnit at the end. I didn’t guess who it was! A few elements I found maybe a little far fetched and fortuitous but I suppose there needs to be some part of that for some of the storylines to add together. But overall it was a great book. I really enjoyed!

I went into this book with very little knowledge and I was so glad I did. If you like a YA mystery this book is for you. The story is a great addition to the genre. I also like the added elements where it breaks the fourth wall.