At Leighford High, Peter Mad Max Maxwell is acting Head of History whilst Peter Moss partakes in an American exchange. His counterpart is Hector Gold, accompanied to Leighford by his eccentric family. In particular, Hector s father-in-law, Jeff O Malley is quite a character, gate-crashing the local poker school, much to the dismay of its members. When events take a sinister turn and one of the poker school s members, is found murdered, newly-promoted Inspector Jacquie Carpenter-Maxwell and Henry Hall investigate, with the assistance of Maxwell, of course. Something is crooked in this case and Maxwell is sure that it is more than meets the eye.
Meirion James Trow is a full-time teacher of history who has been doubling as a crime writer for seventeen years. Originally from Ferndale, Rhondda in South Wales he now lives on the Isle of Wight. His interests include collecting militaria, film, the supernatural and true crime.
Love the way this author writes. Intelligent, always interesting and full of asides to make you smile. Great fun as always! The characters and their descriptions really bring them to life. I love Mums, Dads and Nolan!
After non-stop speed-reading thru 17 Schoolmaster mysteries, the pace has only increased. The tension of Maxwells Christmas reached a peak, leaving me nearly breathless. I love the humor of these books, the language and the complexity. More, please.
This is the 17th book in a series. I have only read one other and that was the first one. The character iof Maxwell has come a long way. He was a widower , history professor with quirks. He has since married a police inspector and has a five year old son. The additional characters add a great deal more warmth and interest to a mystery about a serial killer.
I just love this series, Mad Max always makes me smile. As ever, a hugely entertaining read & little Nolan is becoming quite a character in his own right - a proper chip off the old block, I foresee trouble ahead....
A poor plot that should have been disclosed by a few simple police enquires of the gun register after the first murder. There is an inspector who does not actually do any detecting, her husband, a schoolmaster, who seems to get the credit and again does little. A poor book.