What do you think?
Rate this book
A Schooling in Murder
England, May 1945
Monkshill Park School for Girls seems a world away from the violence that engulfed Europe during World War II. Yet its lonely, decaying grounds have witnessed a murder.
Annabel Warnock, 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. Her body tumbled from the Maiden’s Leap, a viewpoint on the clifftop Gothic Walk, and was washed out to sea.
But Annabel herself is still 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 her killer…
Monkshill Park School for Girls seems a world away from the violence that engulfed Europe during World War II. Yet its lonely, decaying grounds have witnessed a murder.
Annabel Warnock, 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. Her body tumbled from the Maiden’s Leap, a viewpoint on the clifftop Gothic Walk, and was washed out to sea.
But Annabel herself is still 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 her killer…
384 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2025
280 people are currently reading
1145 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Taylor
318 books64 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews
June 11, 2025
I loved Andrew Taylor’s Marwood & Lovett series and was so looking forward to reading this. So many reviews of this book seem to start that way with the reader then giving it a glowing review. Not me, I’m afraid. I think it’s terrible.
Annabel has been murdered, though only posted missing, but her ghost is floating around the school where she taught. She manages to communicate with her replacement to an extent and tries to help him to uncover her murderer. So it’s basically a murder mystery with a supernatural bent. There is no suspense though and the action is so slow. We’re given so much superfluous information about the running of the school that it just becomes tedious. I guessed who the murderer was within the first few chapters so it seemed to take a lifetime (no pun intended) to reach the denouement by which time I could have cared less.
It disappoints me that I’m so disappointed in this as I’ve admired this author’s other work. I found it very unsettling that a male author would have a lesbian as his central character and the book’s narrator. A male author alluding to lesbian sex in the first person just made me feel a bit icky.
I’m hoping this a one off, ill-judged novel and will give Taylor another chance. I appreciate that the book has a lot of glowing reviews but I just can’t follow suit. With thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for a review copy.
Annabel has been murdered, though only posted missing, but her ghost is floating around the school where she taught. She manages to communicate with her replacement to an extent and tries to help him to uncover her murderer. So it’s basically a murder mystery with a supernatural bent. There is no suspense though and the action is so slow. We’re given so much superfluous information about the running of the school that it just becomes tedious. I guessed who the murderer was within the first few chapters so it seemed to take a lifetime (no pun intended) to reach the denouement by which time I could have cared less.
It disappoints me that I’m so disappointed in this as I’ve admired this author’s other work. I found it very unsettling that a male author would have a lesbian as his central character and the book’s narrator. A male author alluding to lesbian sex in the first person just made me feel a bit icky.
I’m hoping this a one off, ill-judged novel and will give Taylor another chance. I appreciate that the book has a lot of glowing reviews but I just can’t follow suit. With thanks to Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for a review copy.
August 5, 2025
interesting novel about the death of a schoolteacher at a private school in 1945 and uses a mixture of supernatural and a crime thriller. enjoyed some parts of this book.
April 22, 2025
Well, this was a brilliant read! I rarely like a first-person narrative, but this book had me hooked from the start.
Miss Warnock is missing. She's upped sticks and left Monkshill School without a mistress, but what the school doesn't know is that Miss Warnock is dead, pushed from The Gothick Walk to her doom....
Annabel / Miss Warnock's ghost, though, remains at Monkshill, and she guides us around the school, introducing us to the characters and discovers not all is as it seems in this dilapidated country estate.
Nobody can hear her, she can't tell people what happened to her! Until a new teacher arrives, and then the game is afoot, but there are more mysteries than Annabels murder to solve...
A very clever country house mystery that has a supernatural spin added to it by a very clever author (who seems able to turn his hand to any genre)
A brilliant update on the period classic country house mystery!
Also, in true Golden Age Crime books, we are treated to a delightful map of the estate at the start of the book! It's an absolute winner for me!!
Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins, for my advance copy! I loved this.
Miss Warnock is missing. She's upped sticks and left Monkshill School without a mistress, but what the school doesn't know is that Miss Warnock is dead, pushed from The Gothick Walk to her doom....
Annabel / Miss Warnock's ghost, though, remains at Monkshill, and she guides us around the school, introducing us to the characters and discovers not all is as it seems in this dilapidated country estate.
Nobody can hear her, she can't tell people what happened to her! Until a new teacher arrives, and then the game is afoot, but there are more mysteries than Annabels murder to solve...
A very clever country house mystery that has a supernatural spin added to it by a very clever author (who seems able to turn his hand to any genre)
A brilliant update on the period classic country house mystery!
Also, in true Golden Age Crime books, we are treated to a delightful map of the estate at the start of the book! It's an absolute winner for me!!
Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins, for my advance copy! I loved this.
June 4, 2025
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.
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.
Read
August 8, 2025IN A NUTSHELL
The premise for this book hooked my imagination. The novel itself sent my imagination to sleep.
A novel offering me a ghost story wrapped around a murder mystery with Dark Academia undertones in a 1940s England historical setting, how could I not enjoy that?
The answer turned out to be: when the pace is slow and the tension so absent that you lose interest.
I set this aside at 26% even though the writing and the narration were both good, because the story wasn't working for me.
The main character was hard to like and was, by necessity, passive (being dead will do that to you). There was no tension and not much by way of pathos or passion. There was a strong sense of how dreary, grubby, small-minded and soul-destroying the school was, but that wasn't enough to keep me engaged. In the absence of other things, it just made the reading experience depressing.
The premise for this book hooked my imagination. The novel itself sent my imagination to sleep.
A novel offering me a ghost story wrapped around a murder mystery with Dark Academia undertones in a 1940s England historical setting, how could I not enjoy that?
The answer turned out to be: when the pace is slow and the tension so absent that you lose interest.
I set this aside at 26% even though the writing and the narration were both good, because the story wasn't working for me.
The main character was hard to like and was, by necessity, passive (being dead will do that to you). There was no tension and not much by way of pathos or passion. There was a strong sense of how dreary, grubby, small-minded and soul-destroying the school was, but that wasn't enough to keep me engaged. In the absence of other things, it just made the reading experience depressing.
December 29, 2025
4.25 stars. It’s hard to go wrong with Andrew Taylor. He writes beautifully and does HF so well. I’ve never had him put a word wrong that pulls me out of a story anachronistically. And his settings and characterization are top-notch.
I was enjoying this book SO much for about the first half or so, and then it started to feel as though it perhaps needed a bit of editing. It could have been stronger if perhaps 20 or so pages were cut from the second half. That being said, the killer was certainly a surprise and I really enjoyed the ghost story aspect of this.
Our POV character was murdered before the story began, but she doesn’t know who killed her (the murderer was behind her) or why. Because her body was not found, her ‘disappearance’ was briefly investigated, but when nothing turned up, it was assumed she simply went on holiday and never returned. She has to enlist the help of someone at the girls’ boarding school where she last worked in order to solve her own murder.
The audio performance was very well done, a full five stars for it, and I’ll be seeking out more books narrated by Nathalie Buscombe.
If you want to get lost in another time and place, usually with some type of murder or crime thrown in, this author is a good one to seek out.
I was enjoying this book SO much for about the first half or so, and then it started to feel as though it perhaps needed a bit of editing. It could have been stronger if perhaps 20 or so pages were cut from the second half. That being said, the killer was certainly a surprise and I really enjoyed the ghost story aspect of this.
Our POV character was murdered before the story began, but she doesn’t know who killed her (the murderer was behind her) or why. Because her body was not found, her ‘disappearance’ was briefly investigated, but when nothing turned up, it was assumed she simply went on holiday and never returned. She has to enlist the help of someone at the girls’ boarding school where she last worked in order to solve her own murder.
The audio performance was very well done, a full five stars for it, and I’ll be seeking out more books narrated by Nathalie Buscombe.
If you want to get lost in another time and place, usually with some type of murder or crime thrown in, this author is a good one to seek out.
August 16, 2025
Unfortunately I'm disappointed in this book. I had great expectations when I read the synopsis, but it didn't keep my interest.
The book was dull with too much unecessary descriptions. I guessed the murderer in the first couple chapters.
The book jacket is awesome though and great synopsis well written to pick your curiosity.
The book was dull with too much unecessary descriptions. I guessed the murderer in the first couple chapters.
The book jacket is awesome though and great synopsis well written to pick your curiosity.
February 19, 2026
3 stars are generous. This felt like a badly written Enid Blyton adventure. The narrator is the ghost of a murdered teacher in a girl's boarding school. The device makes the narrative drag, luckily it improves in the final third hence 3 stars. Very disappointed as I really enjoy his other books.
June 23, 2025
I love Andrew Taylor’s books and over the last few years I’ve been enjoying his Marwood and Lovett series, set in the 17th century in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London. His new novel, A Schooling in Murder, is not part of the series and leaves that setting behind entirely, taking us instead to the 1940s and a girls’ school near the border of England and Wales.
The novel has a very unusual narrator and when I sat down to write this review I wondered if it would be possible to avoid giving away too much about her. However, the publisher’s own blurb reveals her secret, as do most of the other reviews I’ve seen (and to be fair, she tells us herself in the first chapter anyway): Annabel Warnock is a ghost. In life, she was a teacher at Monkshill Park School for Girls, until being pushed into the river from the Maiden’s Leap, a clifftop viewing point on the Gothick Walk, part of the school grounds. Who pushed her? Annabel doesn’t know, but she’s determined to find out.
As a ghost, Annabel is able to move freely around Monkshill Park – although places she never visited while alive are inaccessible to her – but she can’t be seen or heard by anyone else. This naturally makes investigating her murder very difficult, especially as her colleagues don’t even know she’s dead since her body was never washed up. It seems that the only person who can help is Alec Shaw, Annabel’s replacement – referred to simply as a ‘Visiting Tutor’ to appease parents worried about the school employing a man to teach their girls. Although she can’t speak directly to Alec, Annabel finds a very imaginative way to communicate with him, which was one of my favourite aspects of the book!
As well as the mystery element of the book, we also learn a lot about life in a 1940s girls’ boarding school. Andrew Taylor does a good job of portraying the rivalries and complex relationships that form when groups of teenage girls – and groups of teachers – are living together in a close-knit community. There are occasional references to the war, which is in its closing stages as the book begins in May 1945, but Monkshill Park feels largely sheltered from the outside world, so although the war touches the lives of the characters in various ways it doesn’t form a big part of the story.
The descriptions of the school and its landscape are very detailed, so I was interested to read in Taylor’s author’s note that he based it on Piercefield, a now ruined house and estate near Chepstow in Wales, and that in its fictional guise of Monkshill Park it also formed the setting for his earlier novel, The American Boy. I should have remembered that as The American Boy is my favourite of all the Andrew Taylor books I’ve read!
Although it was interesting to watch a victim trying to solve their own murder, I felt that there was a distance between the characters and the reader, which I suppose is inevitable when your narrator can only watch and observe rather than interact directly with the people around her. Maybe because we’re only seeing them from Annabel’s unique perspective, most of the characters also seem particularly unpleasant! Possibly for these reasons, I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as some of Taylor’s other books, but it was imaginative and different and I’m looking forward to whatever he writes next.
The novel has a very unusual narrator and when I sat down to write this review I wondered if it would be possible to avoid giving away too much about her. However, the publisher’s own blurb reveals her secret, as do most of the other reviews I’ve seen (and to be fair, she tells us herself in the first chapter anyway): Annabel Warnock is a ghost. In life, she was a teacher at Monkshill Park School for Girls, until being pushed into the river from the Maiden’s Leap, a clifftop viewing point on the Gothick Walk, part of the school grounds. Who pushed her? Annabel doesn’t know, but she’s determined to find out.
As a ghost, Annabel is able to move freely around Monkshill Park – although places she never visited while alive are inaccessible to her – but she can’t be seen or heard by anyone else. This naturally makes investigating her murder very difficult, especially as her colleagues don’t even know she’s dead since her body was never washed up. It seems that the only person who can help is Alec Shaw, Annabel’s replacement – referred to simply as a ‘Visiting Tutor’ to appease parents worried about the school employing a man to teach their girls. Although she can’t speak directly to Alec, Annabel finds a very imaginative way to communicate with him, which was one of my favourite aspects of the book!
As well as the mystery element of the book, we also learn a lot about life in a 1940s girls’ boarding school. Andrew Taylor does a good job of portraying the rivalries and complex relationships that form when groups of teenage girls – and groups of teachers – are living together in a close-knit community. There are occasional references to the war, which is in its closing stages as the book begins in May 1945, but Monkshill Park feels largely sheltered from the outside world, so although the war touches the lives of the characters in various ways it doesn’t form a big part of the story.
The descriptions of the school and its landscape are very detailed, so I was interested to read in Taylor’s author’s note that he based it on Piercefield, a now ruined house and estate near Chepstow in Wales, and that in its fictional guise of Monkshill Park it also formed the setting for his earlier novel, The American Boy. I should have remembered that as The American Boy is my favourite of all the Andrew Taylor books I’ve read!
Although it was interesting to watch a victim trying to solve their own murder, I felt that there was a distance between the characters and the reader, which I suppose is inevitable when your narrator can only watch and observe rather than interact directly with the people around her. Maybe because we’re only seeing them from Annabel’s unique perspective, most of the characters also seem particularly unpleasant! Possibly for these reasons, I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as some of Taylor’s other books, but it was imaginative and different and I’m looking forward to whatever he writes next.
Did Not Finish
June 30, 2025I wasn’t able to get through this. The pacing was too slow for me and it wasn’t keeping me interested. There was a lot of background detail and information which felt quite irrelevant and it took centre focus over the murder plot.
The concept is definitely interesting with it being a murder mystery told from the perspective of the dead victim who is now a ghost following other characters around but i believe it failed in execution.
Thank you Rachel Quin Marketing and Hemlock Press for the chance to read this proof I appreciate the opportunity.
The concept is definitely interesting with it being a murder mystery told from the perspective of the dead victim who is now a ghost following other characters around but i believe it failed in execution.
Thank you Rachel Quin Marketing and Hemlock Press for the chance to read this proof I appreciate the opportunity.
April 7, 2026
Loved the premise, the characters, the setting, and the story. The ending was disappointing, far fetched, and anticlimactic. Was conflicted between 3/4 stars but I enjoyed most of the book and thought it was really creative especially the element of communication through storytelling with the supernatural. The historical fiction element was also done very well and made it feel very real.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2025
This was such a novel story and I was intrigued and recruited right from the start. I mean, the story told in the POV of the ghost of the woman who had been murdered? and no one knew she was murdered? And she’s trying to find out who killed her? Yes please.
And the whole thing was set in the background of wartime which sets a whole new deeper level of atmosphere.
The audiobook was easy to get lost in (greatly narrated) and the story entertaining. So I really had no problem getting into this book at all. Enjoyable audiobook and a great companion to the gym!
And the whole thing was set in the background of wartime which sets a whole new deeper level of atmosphere.
The audiobook was easy to get lost in (greatly narrated) and the story entertaining. So I really had no problem getting into this book at all. Enjoyable audiobook and a great companion to the gym!
June 4, 2025
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.
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.
April 17, 2025
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.
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.
April 26, 2025
What attracted me to this novel was the reference to a boarding school set in England during WW2. It was described as a mystery thriller, but the search for the killer is the deceased herself making it a haunting novel. The narrative comes from the ghost herself, and her interactions with the living. There was little to keep me enthralled and regrettably I gave up reading halfway through as it just didn’t excite me. Reading should be a source of enjoyment, not a chore.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
April 26, 2025
An original way of writing a thriller with the ghost of the murdered "leading" the way to find her murderer. It was well done, and definitely made sense. However, whereas I loved all his other novels, this book has not thrilled me as much as the other, because of the ghost being a main character. But that's only my opinion.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.
April 14, 2026
This was a good book - I did enjoy it although at points throughout the book I looked to see if it was more of a teen fiction than an adult fiction.
I feel the fact that the narrator is a ghost is slightly controversial. It feels like having the narrator be a ghost and oversee all conversations and goings-on is almost a case of plot armour. Surely as part of fiction it’s important to still have some element of non-fiction, such as not having a ghost looking to solve her own death. Also, the scenes where Annabelle would communicate to Shaw through his typewriter and would stop due to feeling ‘an overwhelming sense of tiredness’ seemed a bit vague and lacked explanation. Then suddenly would reappear at her place of death. Seems like a video game sort of spawn point. Odd.
The killer surprised me but the ending was strange and all too make believe for me.
I did enjoy many parts of it though and it was written well so I have to give it some credit.
I feel the fact that the narrator is a ghost is slightly controversial. It feels like having the narrator be a ghost and oversee all conversations and goings-on is almost a case of plot armour. Surely as part of fiction it’s important to still have some element of non-fiction, such as not having a ghost looking to solve her own death. Also, the scenes where Annabelle would communicate to Shaw through his typewriter and would stop due to feeling ‘an overwhelming sense of tiredness’ seemed a bit vague and lacked explanation. Then suddenly would reappear at her place of death. Seems like a video game sort of spawn point. Odd.
The killer surprised me but the ending was strange and all too make believe for me.
I did enjoy many parts of it though and it was written well so I have to give it some credit.
June 15, 2025
As the war ends, Monkshill Park is facing an uncertain future. One of the teachers at this 'fourth-rate' girls' boarding school has disappeared, only she hasn't, she's been murdered and now her spirit is unable to rest until she finds out what has happened. Annabel was a good teacher but had left her previous job under a cloud however, at Monkshill Park she thought she'd found love and a purpose until she was killed. As secrets come to light, Annabel tries to solve her own murder.
Writing a precise of the plot of this book makes it sound completely ridiculous, a mash-up between a ghost story and a 'Golden-Age' murder mystery. However ,in the hands of Taylor it becomes a thing of wonder. The ghost element is just a clever vehicle for the sleuthing and the characters are diverse and complex in their motives. It's sad, intriguing and beautifully put together.
Writing a precise of the plot of this book makes it sound completely ridiculous, a mash-up between a ghost story and a 'Golden-Age' murder mystery. However ,in the hands of Taylor it becomes a thing of wonder. The ghost element is just a clever vehicle for the sleuthing and the characters are diverse and complex in their motives. It's sad, intriguing and beautifully put together.
July 16, 2025
Annabel is haunting the school where she was murdered. Except no-one knows she's dead, they think she left her job suddenly. Her replacement Alec is the only person she can communicate with and it takes him a long time to realise he is dealing with a ghost. Now that Annabel can learn some of the secrets of the girl's boarding school inhabitants can she find out why she was murdered?
This murder mystery is definitely helped by having the murder victim as the narrator but it's also frustrating - the repeated explanation of 'I couldn't go there as I hadn't when I was alive', Annabel also often arrives just after something has happened and sets up several suspects simply because they are secretive, vicious teenage girls. Not a gripping crime novel but a nice interlude.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.
This murder mystery is definitely helped by having the murder victim as the narrator but it's also frustrating - the repeated explanation of 'I couldn't go there as I hadn't when I was alive', Annabel also often arrives just after something has happened and sets up several suspects simply because they are secretive, vicious teenage girls. Not a gripping crime novel but a nice interlude.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.
January 27, 2026
This book is about a murder, a third-rate girls school, and the groups of people who inhabit the place. It was hard to rate objectively. The young students have stories, the teachers all carry baggage, and then there are the support people like cook, housekeeper, grounds keeper and several others who the author meant to add "color."
The Goodreads description of Annabel (murdered) includes the word "haunts," which is accurate in several senses of the word. She continuously visits, the various places, i.e. "haunts," on the grounds and in the buildings which she visited while alive. She also discovers she can communicate, i.e. "haunt," one of the teachers at the school. The story is well thought out and stimulating in its development. The prose is at times beautifully lyrical which I greatly enjoyed when I cam across it.
The three star rating was more due to the characters whose flaws and foibles left me with an overall feeling of disappointment and sadness.
The Goodreads description of Annabel (murdered) includes the word "haunts," which is accurate in several senses of the word. She continuously visits, the various places, i.e. "haunts," on the grounds and in the buildings which she visited while alive. She also discovers she can communicate, i.e. "haunt," one of the teachers at the school. The story is well thought out and stimulating in its development. The prose is at times beautifully lyrical which I greatly enjoyed when I cam across it.
The three star rating was more due to the characters whose flaws and foibles left me with an overall feeling of disappointment and sadness.
October 3, 2025
If I had to sum up this book in one word, it would be slow. The book creeps along without every getting intense or scary or anything beyond mildly interesting. The mystery story being written in the story was slammed as trite and unimaginative, but it was probably one of the more clever elements of this book that plays on all the stereotypes for its characters.
There were lots of attempts to create red herrings, but real red herrings are supposed to mislead you about the murder, but as no one but the murderer knew that a murder had taken place, they didn't do that. Not for the reader either.
Too many minor plot lines, pretty obvious hints as to who the murderer was (I figured it out pretty early just by thinking who is the most unlikely one and voila!), too many damaged people, it was almost like a bunch of short stories mashed together.
A shame, because I thought the premise was pretty interesting.
There were lots of attempts to create red herrings, but real red herrings are supposed to mislead you about the murder, but as no one but the murderer knew that a murder had taken place, they didn't do that. Not for the reader either.
Too many minor plot lines, pretty obvious hints as to who the murderer was (I figured it out pretty early just by thinking who is the most unlikely one and voila!), too many damaged people, it was almost like a bunch of short stories mashed together.
A shame, because I thought the premise was pretty interesting.
July 10, 2025
A Schooling in Murder was a first book I read by the author. I was intrigued by the idea and enjoyed the first few chapters. I liked the writing style, the moody atmosphere and the characters seemed interesting. However, as the story progressed, my interest started to wane. The plot moved at a frustratingly slow pace, and mostly seemed to consist of mundane details that didn’t add much to the story. The endless, overly detailed descriptions of the woods—while perhaps intended to build atmosphere—started to feel repetitive. By 50% I found myself struggling to stay engaged and decided to stop reading as I realised I am not even interested enough to find out who the murderer was.
April 3, 2026
Despite all the good reviews of this, it did not hold my interest - to the point where I couldn't have cared less who committed the murder. A great idea, but drearily written. I reached 13% and gave up.
One star.
One star.
April 25, 2026
A classic whodunnit set in a boarding school in 1945 .
Miss Annabel Warnock has been murdered and is now a ghost at the school trying to solve who murdered her and why.
The book is narrated by the ghost of Miss Warnock which I really enjoyed.
Miss Annabel Warnock has been murdered and is now a ghost at the school trying to solve who murdered her and why.
The book is narrated by the ghost of Miss Warnock which I really enjoyed.
December 11, 2025
Unusual but enjoyable
April 2, 2026
I have read very mixed reviews about this so I was slightly put off reading it, despite the fact that I always really enjoy his books, but I'm glad I took a chance. It is nonsense - a ghost investigating her own murder and the daft way she communicates with a visiting teacher - but it is very entertaining nonsense. If you like murder mysteries set in public schools in the war years and can look past the occasional daft moment, then you'll enjoy this very much.
June 17, 2025
I just couldn`t get into this novel, even though I tried very hard and kept assuming It would become more gripping.
Although not a great fan of novels written in the first person, I have nevertheless enjoyed a few. However, 'A Schooling in Murder` was not to be added to that list.
The concept of the main character trying to uncover the details of her own murder sounded intriguing. Taylor successfully uses this to increase the emotional appeal but I found the writing style lacked fluidity and there was not enough clue-finding and problem-solving for me personally.
This may appeal to those who want an easy read without involved detective work but unfortunately is not to my liking.
Although not a great fan of novels written in the first person, I have nevertheless enjoyed a few. However, 'A Schooling in Murder` was not to be added to that list.
The concept of the main character trying to uncover the details of her own murder sounded intriguing. Taylor successfully uses this to increase the emotional appeal but I found the writing style lacked fluidity and there was not enough clue-finding and problem-solving for me personally.
This may appeal to those who want an easy read without involved detective work but unfortunately is not to my liking.
April 17, 2026
Not quite roller coaster but, nonetheless, an enjoyable spin on the whodunnit genre. Spectral private school noir?
May 1, 2025
For many years I have been a great fan of Andrew Taylor's historical novels set in the seventeenth century, but I also admire his mysteries set in the twentieth century - and this is one of his best.
With an ever increasing abundance of new crime novels coming out it must be almost impossible for writers to come up with anything truly original or innovative - but this is sure proof that it can still be done, and in this case, done extremely well.
Monkshill, a girls boarding school, is a rather dark version of St Trinian's, with some rather unpleasant teachers and many dysfunctional kids. The author captures the austerity of Britain in the final months of WW2 with his trademark aplomb.
The unusual status of the narrator is a particularly clever literary device.
With an ever increasing abundance of new crime novels coming out it must be almost impossible for writers to come up with anything truly original or innovative - but this is sure proof that it can still be done, and in this case, done extremely well.
Monkshill, a girls boarding school, is a rather dark version of St Trinian's, with some rather unpleasant teachers and many dysfunctional kids. The author captures the austerity of Britain in the final months of WW2 with his trademark aplomb.
The unusual status of the narrator is a particularly clever literary device.
June 20, 2025
A measured and thoughtful take on the classic whodunnit.
Set brilliantly in a struggling girls’ boarding school just after the World War II. At time of uncertainty, financial struggles and the conflict in the Far East still to be resolved.
A wonderful balance of adults and children. The teachers and pupils and those working in auxiliary services to allow the establishment to just keep its balance sheet in the black.
The interesting element to story is that a murder has happened. It is beyond the usual murder mystery as the victim is the narrator of the text. A ghost walking the grounds of the school and the places she had been in life. Now trying to find a means to communicate with the living and solve her murder.
I loved the location. The closed community and therefore limited number of suspects. There are some clever character observations and we quickly learn there are two-sides to most of the people involved. With secrets, boredom, gossiping and a sense of menace lingering around the place. All is not well and no-one even our missing corpse is whom they seem.
I loved the range of issues and topics covered. The growing need for young women to be educated. The difficulty to throw off the uncertainty of war. The displaced and missing. A fear as much as hope in the future. The constant struggle to maintain the reputation of the school, boost income, pay bills and meet parental expectations.
I particularly liked the first approach in this genre and the juxtaposition of a ghost story within a closed community closer to period saga than the postwar promise. It throws up many societal issues as well, both in terms of relationships and lengths needed to keep secrets where half truths, speculation or discovery could destroy reputations.
A pleasant book to lose yourself in and discover those things we should value and embrace.
Set brilliantly in a struggling girls’ boarding school just after the World War II. At time of uncertainty, financial struggles and the conflict in the Far East still to be resolved.
A wonderful balance of adults and children. The teachers and pupils and those working in auxiliary services to allow the establishment to just keep its balance sheet in the black.
The interesting element to story is that a murder has happened. It is beyond the usual murder mystery as the victim is the narrator of the text. A ghost walking the grounds of the school and the places she had been in life. Now trying to find a means to communicate with the living and solve her murder.
I loved the location. The closed community and therefore limited number of suspects. There are some clever character observations and we quickly learn there are two-sides to most of the people involved. With secrets, boredom, gossiping and a sense of menace lingering around the place. All is not well and no-one even our missing corpse is whom they seem.
I loved the range of issues and topics covered. The growing need for young women to be educated. The difficulty to throw off the uncertainty of war. The displaced and missing. A fear as much as hope in the future. The constant struggle to maintain the reputation of the school, boost income, pay bills and meet parental expectations.
I particularly liked the first approach in this genre and the juxtaposition of a ghost story within a closed community closer to period saga than the postwar promise. It throws up many societal issues as well, both in terms of relationships and lengths needed to keep secrets where half truths, speculation or discovery could destroy reputations.
A pleasant book to lose yourself in and discover those things we should value and embrace.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 191 reviews