This is on me but I accepted the Netgalley widget without checking the date. I felt rushed into reading it.

I think another day, a less hurried approach and I might have enjoyed it more but I struggled to get into this book

A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor is a murder mystery set in an English boarding school in 1945, with the unusual twist of being narrated by the ghost of the murder victim, a former teacher. Apart from this twist, the book reads like an old school Agatha Christie style mystery with a mixed cast of characters essentially locked into a single setting. The victim. Annabel Warnock is desperate to find her killer, and the potential pool of suspects is quite wide.
This was an entertaining read, but I never really felt like any of the characters were developed beyond broad strokes, and so I was not as invested in solving the mystery at the heart of the book as I might have otherwise been. I will say that the author did a good job of evoking the time period and his descriptions of the school and grounds made it almost a character in its own right. I loved the premise of the book but overall the execution felt a little flat, which is a shame as I can see the potential in both the idea and the writing.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own .

When a beloved teacher disappears, her pupils are told that she has left the school. The reader and the teacher, Annabel Warnock, know differently, Murder has occurred and the why and who did it has to be investigated.
Set within a girls boarding school, the atmosphere is one of petty jealousies, bullying and cruelty, rampant female hormones, sexual tensions and secret infatuations. This is post war England, and we are introduced to the harshness of rationing, communal living, dormitories, unloved girls and Young women who are starved of affection, warmth and social experiences, being used as cheap labour under the pretence of learning homemaking skills for a future of marriage and child rearing. There is also the horrible uncertainty of not knowing if parents have survived the war, and this has led to many disturbing incidences of mental ill health. The girls find their own amusements, especially when a male teacher is introduced into this feverish melting pot of emotions.
Darn, this author is good at placing red herrings across the path of would be armchair detectives. Using a ghost as the narrator is a clever device, it allows for more eavesdropping and the chance for the narrator to justify her actions, but you share her frustrations at not being able to communicate with someone, her despair at leaving her students in the lurch, and the gradual realisation that death will not answer the question, could she have been kinder when alive?
This is a wonderful readable mystery and psychological thriller, it is so very emotional and poignant. It introduces the hidden world of lesbian feelings, and this story shows that true love shines through even beyond death.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers HarperCollinsUK, for my advanced copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. A five star rating.
I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK .

This was quite an unusual story. It was set in 1945, just after VE Day. It is written in the first person and at first I wondered who was the narrator but this was soon cleared up. Annabel was trying to find out who had murdered her. There were a number of possible culprits and some of the teachers at the school had their own secrets. I certainly didn’t work out who was responsible for her murder, which is always a bonus. This story really evoked the attitudes of the time, towards women’s intelligence and education as well as same sex relationships. This was a very enjoyable read. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A historical tale set in a girls,school told by the murdered teachers, surprisingly good during last days of WW2.

When murdered by an unknown killer Annabel is keen to know who killed her and what's going on and finds she had a way of helping the discovery even from the other side. There is the normal unpleasantness of a boarding school as well as the normal stones you'd expect but the storyline carries plenty of twists and turns, it's carried by events involving staff not just the teachers plus students of course and they don't just accept the official script of the head or the police. So it's eventful and a well told story.

Why would I recommend this week enjoyed reading it and the unpredictable nature of the way the story went even if I guessed the culprit in chapter one. But probably more luck that I got that right as the clues weren't there that early, and j definitely had no idea of the reason why which was an inspirational.twist that I certainly didn't see coming.

Firstly thank you Netgalley for this Arc

Another brilliant book by this author based in a boarding school .

An utter joy to be back with Andrew Taylor's writing and I love that he's done something new - his own twist on Golden age crime. Hugely enjoyable. More, please.

We have read most of Andrew Taylor's wonderful offerings but this has to be one of his best. Set in a boarding school riddled with secrets. Excellent murder mystery with a surprising twist.

I’m always impressed when an author can surprise me and/or write a unique plot that gives me pause; new-to-me author, Andrew Taylor, did both.

When one of their own is murdered, the Monkshill Park School for Girls becomes the center of a murder investigation. Teacher Annabel Warnock never returned from her holidays and the staff and students have conflicting ideas about what really happened.

I was immediately pulled in with the Gothic setting; it really is essential to this unique story! I can’t tell you more except caution you to doubt everything. You’ll get swept up in a stellar story with ghosts, owls, and a killer that evades detection or identification.

I’ve enjoyed Gothic mysteries, murder mysteries and unreliable narrators before, but I’ve never read a book where the victim, the narrator and the detective were all the same person! Taylor pulls this off and leaves readers gobsmacked.

I was gifted this copy and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I really liked the premise of this book — a teacher with a secretive past, who disappears, presumed to have left by her colleagues but who is actually trapped at Monkshill Park School where she was brutally murdered.
The story is set in 1945 at the end of the war in a tight knit community almost exclusively being girls and women. The setting, an old country house, temporarily requisitioned by the army during the war and now an 'exclusive' girls school is well described. But the characters, teachers, girls and staff of different ages and from different backgrounds, although mostly working against the odds are for the most part really unlikeable. Even Annabel Warnock, the heroine of the story and the main sleuth investigating her own demise, is not much liked by the other staff and girls, while the head and deputy, the cleaning lady, the cook and her son and the old man who lives in the grounds are all thoroughly unlikeable. The girls are not much better with rivalries and bullying dominating the school days. Barely anyone comes out smelling of roses and this meant I really didn't care enough about the characters to want to know the outcome.
I also found the first few chapters where the author is establishing the boundaries for Annabel are a bit clunky and her restraints needed were explained several times. The references to books of the time, most of which I've not read became rather annoying as I didn't see the point and the way the one man switched between a pipe and cigarettes confused me.
The story continues as Annabel persuades her replacement teacher, Alec, to investigate and gradually various secrets are exposed and we come to understand how those secrets could lead to decisive action.
Sadly I didn't think the book was as good as the blurb, but it was an interesting take on the usual murder mystery and I'm sure many will enjoy it.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy in return for an honest review.

Certainly different - and enjoyable!

Annabel Warnock, our protagonist, was a teacher at an all girl's boarding school post-WWII - until someone murdered her. It happened with a push from behind and she would dearly love to find out who it was. Now that she's dead, she can be privvy to so many conversations, but is limited in where she can go. How will she find out who her murderer is?

I have to confess this is an entirely new author to me, but he's now firmly on my radar. This is such a terrific read! I loved all the goings-on at the school - parents and students - and was completely in the dark as to who the murderer was - until it was revealed. A perfect ending! Beautifully crafted and true to the period it is set in. A cracking good read and one I'm very happy to recommend. 5*.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley.

3.5 stars rounded up

England, May 1945. Monkshill Park School for Girls seemed a world away from the violence that engulfed Europe during WWII. Yes, it's lonely, decaying grounds have witnessed murder. Annabel Warmock, a teacher with a secretive past, left for the holidays and never came back. Both teachers and girls assume she simply walked out, but the truth is quite different. He body tumbled from the Maiden's Leap, a view point on the Clifftop Gothic Walk, and washed out to sea. But Annabel herself is trapped at Monkshill, unable to move on. As she haunts the grounds and school, she discovers a hidden world - students, staff and servants are riven with deadly rivalries and dangerous tensions. And one of them is a killer....

Well, this book was different, a ghost who had been murdered is helping out while trying to find her murderer. Someone had pushed Annabel off Maiden;'s Leap. Annabel starts uncovering the secrets of the students and staff.

This is a character driven story. Everyone believed Annabel Warnock had just left without telling anyone. There were some good twists. The story is told from Annabel's perspective. It's also easy to read.

A slow start, but A Schooling in Murder offers an intriguing story. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review it prior to publication.
Our narrator introduces us to the comings and goings at Monkshill School. Our narrator is Miss Annabel Warnock, a former teacher at the school who has gone missing. We know she has been murdered, and her ghost is trying to find out who killed her.
The setting of the school is suitably remote and gloomy. Plenty of woodland and a remote lake. There’s talk of a hidden walk in the woods, and a suggestion that there may be someone living in the woods.
Set against the backdrop of war this was very much a book that felt cut off from time. The girls go about their business but we never really sense the outside world. The claustrophobic setting of the school lends itself well to the idea of the mystery.
Through Warnock’s observations we are able to piece together details about the lives of those at the school. We see the secrets they are keen to keep hidden, and we come to see how those secrets could result in someone needing to go to extremes lengths to keep them hidden. Eventually we learn who killed Warnock and why.

We are huge fans of Andrew Taylor, especially his Marwood & Lovett series. A Schooling in Murder has such an original narrative voice and wonderfully constructed plot! Taylor is a master of historic crime fiction. The only criticism would be that the link between the killer and another peripheral character didn’t feel like it had been set up enough during the book. However, we didn’t guess who the killer was - definitely recommend.

This is a gripping historical mystery. Author’s writing is compelling and the book is written in first perspective. I definitely agree with what author said about power and cruelty. A lot of things were going on in this book. Miss Warnock vanishes or perhaps she is dead but no one is sure. The book has layers of mystery, suspense, and supernatural elements. The characters were also mysterious. There were several twists and the book will keep you guessing till the end.

Thanks to the Publisher

This was very nearly brilliant. The book was based on a really good concept & some great ideas. The execution was a little bland and could have been more in depth. I did enjoy the book though and was disappointed when I finished it as I could have read more.

A Schooling in Murder is a murder mystery with a twist. The story centres around Annabel Warnock, the ghost of a recently murdered teacher at a girl’s boarding school in World War II England. Annabel can’t remember who killed her and is stuck in limbo at the school, desperate to find out, while nobody else there is even aware of her death. Now she is able to spy on the pupils, teachers and staff, she discovers a world of secrets and suspects. But who was behind her death?

It's a clever premise and a brilliantly told story. Andrew Taylor is so good at creating a sense of time and place in his historical fiction and proves to be just as adept in this relatively modern setting. By using the boarding school as a setting, he essentially creates the kind of country house murder mystery popular at the time and there’s a real sense of claustrophobia about it. No character, including Annabel, is purely good or bad, everyone has their secrets and faults, and it’s genuinely hard to know who was responsible or why. I was completely caught up in both the story and the setting and couldn’t put it down. And as for the ending….

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

This was a very different story based in a girls boarding school during a war. Interesting cast of characters, the children as well as the adults. One of the teachers is missing, thought to have just left. In actual fact she was killed and her ghosts returns to find the killer! Eventually everything unravels
, with a rather quiet conclusion.

I usually enjoy anything written in this era, but unfortunately this book did not work for me. I found it way too slow and ponderous, and could not get on with the main character actually being a ghost.
The wrong choice on my part, I’m sorry. As I have not finished the book I will not copy my review to retail sites.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Monkshill Park School for Girls is the setting for this story. Set just after the end of World War II.
Annabel Warnock, a teacher at the school with a secret past , walked out of school and disappeared. She was murdered but by who and why?
However, Annabel is still around and haunts the school. From this position she is able to view everything that is going on around her and find out who killed her. And it could be anyone of them.