I really tried with this book. I kept going back to it and trying again, but it just didn't hold my attention for more than a few minutes at a time, so at 52%, I had to give in and give up.

It's a tale that by the premise had me really interested, but when reading, I found the mundane goings on and the life of the staff and students at the school just overly boring.

Narrated by the ghost of murdered teacher Miss Annabelle Warnock, the story is based around finding out who killed her. Lots of suspicions, lots of suspects, lots of guesswork...

Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me. While I could have persevered, life is way too short to be reading books that don't bring me joy!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.

A really engaging 'whodunnit' where the narrator is the ghost of the victim seeking to discover who killed her. In the enclosed world of a girls' boarding school at the end of the Second World War, it is humorous and has lots of references to Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. The red herrings come thick and fast and it had me guessing right to the end. I think this is a great gift for Christmas for everyone, if you are stuck for a gift for the person who has everything, buy them this, they will not be disappointed. I loved it.

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Tate.

This was such an unusual book. It opened like any murder mystery but I was soon engaged by the atypical viewpoint. Annabel has been murdered and it is her ghost who is telling the story. We become involved with the tensions and relationships in a school for girls, many of whom seem lost and lonely. It is no different for the staff - especially the new teacher who is, of all things, a man, catapulted into the boiling pot of characters. I enjoyed the unfurling of the school girls as we found out more about them. The central mystery is enjoyably twisty and the setting, at the end of WW2, made an interesting backdrop. I highly recommend this book for lovers of detective fiction and school stories. Thanks to Harper Collins and to NetGalley for a copy in return for an honest review.

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor due for publication 5 June 2025

Having thoroughly enjoyed Andrew Taylor's Cat Lovett and James Marwood novels I was not sure what to make of this stand alone tale. It took me a while to get into it and I had to re read the beginning as I was confused over who was who and what was going on (even with the character list at the beginning). I did not warm to any of the characters even the more sympathetic ones most were thoroughly unlikeable.

There were many layers to this mystery with several characters trying to get to the bottom of the mysterious disappearance of Annabel. After thinking so many of the characters could have been responsible for Ananabel's death the ending was a shock and totally unexpected.

So although I can't say it was a great read for me it was worth perservering.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy.

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor is narrated by the ghost of Annabel Warnock, a teacher who has been murdered at a residential girls' school near Gloucester at the end of the Second World War. It details the mundane and rather boring life of both pupils and staff at the school whilst slowly revealing the number of suspects who might have had the motive to murder Miss Warnock.

Much as I have enjoyed reading all of Andrew Taylor's Marwood and Lovett historical novels, regrettably I didn't much like the concept of the book and found it rather dull and depressing.

I am sorry but I can’t get through this book. I keep trying again but failing.
Not for me!
I find the requirements to write a 100 words when wishing to send negative feedback is unnecessary??

I wasn't really sure what to make of it to be first. It took a while to get going, and I found it hard to connect or care about any of the characters at first. This is very much a slow burn, but as the mystery deepened and we peeled back the layers of all the characters, they started to grow on me.

There was repetition here, moments when we seemed to be looping, having the same thought or conversation again and again, which was slightly annoying, but by and large it flowed okay. Having multiple people exploring multiple possibilities at once, and being able to see both sides of the importance of something, whereas the characters didn't, was the best sort of frustration.

The book captured the atmosphere of the period perfectly. People desperate for news of loved ones in the war, the fact that Germany may have surrendered but it was still going on - the misery of war rations and the brief moments of normality that cut through the gloom. All fantastic.

The twist at the end was great. There were moments throughout the story that I found myself hoping that the current main suspect wasn't the killer, caring about these people in a complete reversal to my original feelings of them. When the true culprit was exposed, the answer was satisfying and very bittersweet all at once.

Everything isn't tied up neatly, because life isn't neat. We don't know what happens to the characters past this moment but we don't need to. Our main characters story is done.

I was uncertain when I started reading this book, thinking I’d made a mistake as the main character was a ghost. However, a few pages in and I was hooked. The ghost idea is such a novelty and worked really well. I loved the 1940’s setting, with excellent details of awful food and social constraints. I definitely recommend this book.

Another glorious ghost story from a master.

"A Schooling for Murder" opens in the southwest of England, in 1945. A new teacher is making his way to Monkshill Park School for Girls, located in a world seemingly miles away from the ravages of WW2. His arrival is witnessed by someone whose identity and circumstances we quickly learn. She is / was the teacher he is to replace, having disappeared some six weeks previously. As we learn about that disappearance, and her subsequent fate, a story unfolds which is both sad and eerie. The books reads like a classic Golden Age murder mystery, with a few red herrings and more than a few characters who may not be what they seem. Each one is nicely fleshed out, in a stark black and white film way.

As a first-person narrative, the story is only revealed through the thoughts and experiences of the narrator, a device which I'm not always comfortable with. But in the hands of this author, it works well - as people, their motives, their secrets and their lives are slowly uncovered. The fact that we are let in to the fate of the heroine almost from page 1, doesn't detract from the tension and the slow unravelling of the mystery. Key to this is the school itself - a bleak and forbidding place, which readers of a previous book by Andrew Taylor might recognise. There's a nice touch about the way in which the ghost can move about the school which is very unique.

Several themes run through the book - about how we view others and other people see us and about how we often try and place our own hopes and dreams and ambitions onto them.

Fans of Andrew Taylor's previous ghostly tales will love this one. Heartily recommended.

This book! Set in an isolated school in 1945...well now, could you have a better sense of foreboding from the off. This is an impressive read and one I really enjoyed given the sharp writing and wonderful attention to detail with regards to the period and the society at the time. I think the closed room gave the novel and its story an edge. There are some tensions here! Haunting too in more ways than one. And the characters in this book are some of the best I have come across given their past, relationships with others and more.

Wow! This is one amazing read, so thoughtfully and cleverly plotted. It's 1945 and the author has perfectly captured the era with historic detail. There is humour and dark, outrageous moments reflecting the views and attitudes of the time. I found it intriguing, interesting and suspenseful with a cliffhangar, jawdropping conclusion which came as a complete surprise.
Absolutely brilliant and highly recommended.

Clever, inventive and fun.
A broad cast of interesting characters, when I believed absolutely sny of them could be the murderer.
Great setting, and feels very well set in the time period.
Overall, an enjoyable read.

Set in an isolated school in 1945, this is a beautifully written story with a rich sense of period. The school is populated by a cast of interesting characters, including the ghost of a former teacher. The tensions and prejudicies of the period are enhanced in this closed setting, making this a haunting and riveting read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.