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Detective Markham Mystery #2
Crime in the School
A HEART-STOPPING CRIME THRILLER WITH A TWIST THAT YOU WON’T SEE COMING
A VIOLENT KILLER IS TERRORIZING BROMGROVE
Please note this book was first published as “Blood Will Have Blood”
Handsome teacher, Ashley Dean is brutally murdered at Hope Academy, a local school. It’s known as a rough place, but gossip blames the violence on a deranged intruder.
DI Markham’s instincts say otherwise. Could this brutality have been the work of a student? Could there even be a connection with the staff? It seems unthinkable. After all, DI Gilbert Markham’s girlfriend Olivia teaches English at the school.
Markham’s team probe deeper and the local community begin to turn against Markham. Somebody in a position of power is hiding appalling information. More blood will be spilt before their secrets are laid bare.
DI MARKHAM MUST FIGHT TO SAVE HIS GIRLFRIEND’S SCHOOL FROM A BRUTAL KILLER
A VIOLENT KILLER IS TERRORIZING BROMGROVE
Please note this book was first published as “Blood Will Have Blood”
Handsome teacher, Ashley Dean is brutally murdered at Hope Academy, a local school. It’s known as a rough place, but gossip blames the violence on a deranged intruder.
DI Markham’s instincts say otherwise. Could this brutality have been the work of a student? Could there even be a connection with the staff? It seems unthinkable. After all, DI Gilbert Markham’s girlfriend Olivia teaches English at the school.
Markham’s team probe deeper and the local community begin to turn against Markham. Somebody in a position of power is hiding appalling information. More blood will be spilt before their secrets are laid bare.
DI MARKHAM MUST FIGHT TO SAVE HIS GIRLFRIEND’S SCHOOL FROM A BRUTAL KILLER
168 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 2018
725 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Moloney
30 books51 followersI was born in Ikom, Nigeria (where my parents were missionaries) and come from a Liverpool medical family, but am not a doctor of medicine. . After graduating in Jurisprudence from Jesus College (University of Oxford), I was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn. Despite qualifying as a barrister, my first love was English; this led to a PhD in English Literature at Birkbeck College (University of London).
In my academic career, I lectured and published widely on the subject of tuberculosis and nineteenth-century literature, but somehow managed to avoid contracting galloping hypochondria and turned my attention to crime fiction.
In my academic career, I lectured and published widely on the subject of tuberculosis and nineteenth-century literature, but somehow managed to avoid contracting galloping hypochondria and turned my attention to crime fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
May 11, 2019
Please note this book was first published as “Blood Will Have Blood”
DI Markham's girlfriend, Olivia, has gone back to teaching although she still has nightmares from the last school she worked. Staying late one night, although a little skittish, she hears a noise and goes looking to see what .. or who ... it is.
Much to her surprise, she comes across a body laying in the hallway. Olivia identifies the body as that belonging to Ashley Dean, another teacher. His face has been hit repeatedly, obliterating most of his facial features. Other parts of his body have been mutilated.
School staff wants to think this was done by a stranger .. Markham thinks otherwise. He is thinking along the lines that this murder was done by a student .. or another staff member.
This won't be the only body discovered.
The more Markham and his team investigate, the closer to danger they all become
This is an outstanding addition to the series. (CRIME IN THE CHOIR is Book 1). The characters are deftly described and the story premise is suspenseful. Although second in this series, this can easily be read as a stand alone. I do recommend starting at the beginning, though. Lots of little nuggets that will interest the reader.
Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
DI Markham's girlfriend, Olivia, has gone back to teaching although she still has nightmares from the last school she worked. Staying late one night, although a little skittish, she hears a noise and goes looking to see what .. or who ... it is.
Much to her surprise, she comes across a body laying in the hallway. Olivia identifies the body as that belonging to Ashley Dean, another teacher. His face has been hit repeatedly, obliterating most of his facial features. Other parts of his body have been mutilated.
School staff wants to think this was done by a stranger .. Markham thinks otherwise. He is thinking along the lines that this murder was done by a student .. or another staff member.
This won't be the only body discovered.
The more Markham and his team investigate, the closer to danger they all become
This is an outstanding addition to the series. (CRIME IN THE CHOIR is Book 1). The characters are deftly described and the story premise is suspenseful. Although second in this series, this can easily be read as a stand alone. I do recommend starting at the beginning, though. Lots of little nuggets that will interest the reader.
Many thanks to the author / Joffe Books / Books n All Book Promotions for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
May 13, 2019
This is book 2 of 4 and I would recommend reading this mini series in order as most of the character building and history takes place in book 1.
This book is faster paced than book 1. Olivia, again, plays a major part in this book as she discovers the first victim. As the bodies seemingly appear in places you wouldn't expect Markham is once again caught up in a race against time to find the killer before he loses the case.
Just who is it who is murdering people who have hurt nobody? And why? As Markham and his team get down to searching for clues something turns up that causes a rift in his relationship with Olivia. Struggling to cope without the love of his life and the Chief trying to steer him in the wrong direction will Markham be able to clear his head and uncover the secrets of the staff at the school.
A good addition to the series and looking forward to reading book 3
This book is faster paced than book 1. Olivia, again, plays a major part in this book as she discovers the first victim. As the bodies seemingly appear in places you wouldn't expect Markham is once again caught up in a race against time to find the killer before he loses the case.
Just who is it who is murdering people who have hurt nobody? And why? As Markham and his team get down to searching for clues something turns up that causes a rift in his relationship with Olivia. Struggling to cope without the love of his life and the Chief trying to steer him in the wrong direction will Markham be able to clear his head and uncover the secrets of the staff at the school.
A good addition to the series and looking forward to reading book 3
June 29, 2019
A reason I prefer British mysteries as an American is to learn so many delightful idioms and folklore. This time it was Uncle Tom Coble and all, based on a Somerset traditional song Widecombe Fair. Also enjoyed all the literary and biblical allusions the author dropped. Nominated this one for the Kindle English Mystery Book Club group read and was delighted it was chosen because I love school stories; Hope Academy was an ironic name for this school which was dottier than most. Definitely bog standard and despising tradition. Having a deputy head of school who was a former groundskeeper was an innovation; the administration are referred to as the Senior Management Team. And the great thing about making a school official the victim is that the list of suspects will definitely extend to Uncle Tom Coble. DCI Markham and his girlfriend Olivia, who is about the only member of the school staff who is sane, are an engaging couple and I may read more of the series.
June 9, 2019
Crime in the School is a read for this month over a the Kindle English Mystery Club on Goodreads. This is actually number 2 in the Detective Markham series. I really enjoyed this, the tagline said “fiercely addictive crime thriller” and it wasn’t lying. I didn’t want to put it down. Detective Markham and his team of Noakes and young Burton develop a nice sense of loyalty and there is a chemistry among the members of the team. The relationship between Markham and Olivia while rocky seems to be developing as best as it can amidst the chaos of multiple murders.
In this installment, Olivia is working at school and one night when leaving after working late she almost falls over the corpse of a brutally murdered colleague. Markham and his team are set to investigate even as forces are working against their investigation. Nicely developed sense of menace in the setting and well drawn characters. Even ones that don’t figure prominently seem to be given enough attention to be fleshed out. Very good police procedural!
In this installment, Olivia is working at school and one night when leaving after working late she almost falls over the corpse of a brutally murdered colleague. Markham and his team are set to investigate even as forces are working against their investigation. Nicely developed sense of menace in the setting and well drawn characters. Even ones that don’t figure prominently seem to be given enough attention to be fleshed out. Very good police procedural!
May 18, 2020
Readable.
Another good read, exciting, thrilling, with attractive detective and coarse but true sergeant finding out who killed staff in a tough school called ironically 'Hope'. Well written, peppered with literary and biblical quotes and loads of feeling for victims but. ..I did not enjoy it as much as the first in the series. Suddenly it was as if I saw behind the curtain of illusion, caught the formula...And found it wanting. In this the police actually don't do much real detecting but it is so smoothly written you don't really notice. I felt like the little boy in the story of the king with new clothes. Sorry. But nevertheless I did enjoy it and will read the next...but without the same high anticipation.
Another good read, exciting, thrilling, with attractive detective and coarse but true sergeant finding out who killed staff in a tough school called ironically 'Hope'. Well written, peppered with literary and biblical quotes and loads of feeling for victims but. ..I did not enjoy it as much as the first in the series. Suddenly it was as if I saw behind the curtain of illusion, caught the formula...And found it wanting. In this the police actually don't do much real detecting but it is so smoothly written you don't really notice. I felt like the little boy in the story of the king with new clothes. Sorry. But nevertheless I did enjoy it and will read the next...but without the same high anticipation.
February 3, 2021
Interesting mystery
I started this series by reading the last book first. It was entertaining and I decided to read more. Great characters, good mysteries but I've never had to look up the meaning of so many words. Some words are not even in the dictionary. It certainly takes away from the story to have to continually look up the meaning of a word when there is a perfectly good common word that could have been used. In this particular book there was an
Entire paragraph that had so many unknown words I couldn't understand the entire paragraph. I didn't waste my time trying to look up all the words that .made no sense. I will read more in the series but please stop trying to impress with all the alternative wording. Just say what you're trying to say!
I started this series by reading the last book first. It was entertaining and I decided to read more. Great characters, good mysteries but I've never had to look up the meaning of so many words. Some words are not even in the dictionary. It certainly takes away from the story to have to continually look up the meaning of a word when there is a perfectly good common word that could have been used. In this particular book there was an
Entire paragraph that had so many unknown words I couldn't understand the entire paragraph. I didn't waste my time trying to look up all the words that .made no sense. I will read more in the series but please stop trying to impress with all the alternative wording. Just say what you're trying to say!
August 11, 2024
Decent police procedural with a lot of big words
A good murder mystery with a detective, his rough around the edges second in charge, two newbies: a man and woman and an annoying boss. His girlfriend plays a key role, as she is a teacher in the school where the murder takes place.
This is the second of this series I have read, and I admit that although I didn't notice last time, the words this author uses really bugged me in this one. I like to expand my vocabulary with reading, but this is a detective novel, so I don't expect to need to lookup a word an every page. Lucky I read this on Kindle so I could when I felt like it. It's not one of the characters who is written as well educated: it's the non-dialogue parts where this vocabulary show-off takes place. Perhaps the author is a frustrated literature writer?
Anyhow, I bought the first three books on this series, so I will read the third one at some point and maybe it will annoy me less than this one did.
A good murder mystery with a detective, his rough around the edges second in charge, two newbies: a man and woman and an annoying boss. His girlfriend plays a key role, as she is a teacher in the school where the murder takes place.
This is the second of this series I have read, and I admit that although I didn't notice last time, the words this author uses really bugged me in this one. I like to expand my vocabulary with reading, but this is a detective novel, so I don't expect to need to lookup a word an every page. Lucky I read this on Kindle so I could when I felt like it. It's not one of the characters who is written as well educated: it's the non-dialogue parts where this vocabulary show-off takes place. Perhaps the author is a frustrated literature writer?
Anyhow, I bought the first three books on this series, so I will read the third one at some point and maybe it will annoy me less than this one did.
July 3, 2019
I like the storyline and the characters but I deducted a star for the use of words that do not really fit into the storyline. Yes you can see that they can be used but there are more suitable options available without having to resort to a dictionary to find out what the word is doing there. It carries on throughout the book and seems to be a case of finding an obscure word to fit in just because you can. It did take away from my enjoyment of the story. I know you are a writer and probably have a love of words but you write for an audience and having to continually look up words that do not really add to the story when a more common word exists spoils the flow.
February 6, 2022
DI Gilbert Markham’s girlfriend Olivia teaches English at a local school, Hope Academy. And of course, minutes after her start there a murder occurs. Lo and behold, Markham and Noakes get the case. And solve it. Pleasantly written, touch of humour always present. Well rounded characters, which is remarkable for a second book into the series. Very recommendable read.
March 4, 2023
Handsome Ashley Dean is found brutally beaten to death in Hope Academy. Not only that but he is found by DI Markham's girlfriend, who is now working after her job at St Mary's Choir school ended. It will take a lot of ingenuity to bring this murderer to justice and again things are much closer than anyone imagined.
May 18, 2019
Second of the series
Another story of murder in an educational environment. Our hero and his girlfriend are in the centre of a gothic tale of hidden pasts and secrets. All a bit overdrawn, but this is a good example of the genre.
Another story of murder in an educational environment. Our hero and his girlfriend are in the centre of a gothic tale of hidden pasts and secrets. All a bit overdrawn, but this is a good example of the genre.
July 28, 2019
The Sevond Markham Mystery
Another good book in this series, beginning to warm to Markham’s team, I hope they keep them together. Another convoluted and twisted plot which keeps you riveted, look forward to book number 3
Another good book in this series, beginning to warm to Markham’s team, I hope they keep them together. Another convoluted and twisted plot which keeps you riveted, look forward to book number 3
September 9, 2019
Good puzzle whodunnit
I couldn't put this book down had to find out who dunnit quite gruesome glad I couldn't see the dead boddies but very enjoyable have bought the others in the series I recommend this book
I couldn't put this book down had to find out who dunnit quite gruesome glad I couldn't see the dead boddies but very enjoyable have bought the others in the series I recommend this book
October 3, 2019
Not so exciting
I found the book to be a little hard to follow...to many major characters. The story was ok kept me guessing as to who done it but not a surprise when the killer was revealed oh hum on to the next page Turner
I found the book to be a little hard to follow...to many major characters. The story was ok kept me guessing as to who done it but not a surprise when the killer was revealed oh hum on to the next page Turner
February 14, 2020
Good
I really like this series of books. I love the characters and the mystery. I would have given five stars but the author wrote like she was using a thesaurus to find obscure words. Other than that, it’s great!
I really like this series of books. I love the characters and the mystery. I would have given five stars but the author wrote like she was using a thesaurus to find obscure words. Other than that, it’s great!
November 6, 2021
Exciting Read
Olivia is working in another school, Hope Academy. Markham is called in when a murder occurs there. A convoluted investigation follows with red herrings and twists clouding the scene. The characters are vividly drawn with nuances making them all under suspicion.
Olivia is working in another school, Hope Academy. Markham is called in when a murder occurs there. A convoluted investigation follows with red herrings and twists clouding the scene. The characters are vividly drawn with nuances making them all under suspicion.
December 31, 2022
Runs on the same vein as the first book, but I enjoyed the characters and the plot. There were many British expressions that were unfamiliar but could be understood in their context. Some words I just had to google. Author definitely has a way with words. Couldn’t quite stretch it to 5 stars.
February 1, 2023
Not bad….but
The author must have had a dictionary at hand to come up with a big word for what could be a simpler adjective. I have a Master’s degree but found the frequent use of words I had to translate frustrating.
The author must have had a dictionary at hand to come up with a big word for what could be a simpler adjective. I have a Master’s degree but found the frequent use of words I had to translate frustrating.
July 22, 2019
Another great story
Another great story featuring w Markham and his team.Lots of twists and turns a good ending .Looking forward to reading the rest in the series.
Another great story featuring w Markham and his team.Lots of twists and turns a good ending .Looking forward to reading the rest in the series.
August 3, 2019
Review
I enjoyed reading this book. The story was well written and well thought out. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys reading a really good mystery.
I enjoyed reading this book. The story was well written and well thought out. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys reading a really good mystery.
September 3, 2019
A good read
I enjoyed the characters a great deal. The storyline I thought a little unbelievable especially at the end,with the death scene
I enjoyed the characters a great deal. The storyline I thought a little unbelievable especially at the end,with the death scene
October 13, 2019
Crime the school.
I enjoyed this book, and I like the characters in it, I think the author brought them to life for me.
I enjoyed this book, and I like the characters in it, I think the author brought them to life for me.
February 24, 2021
Another good one!
November 2, 2021
Gripping
Another gripping tale. The culprit was the one I least suspected. I don't mind all the literary and biblical quotes. The main characters are developing nicely.
Another gripping tale. The culprit was the one I least suspected. I don't mind all the literary and biblical quotes. The main characters are developing nicely.
October 13, 2022
So we'll written. I have had to look up so many words , and I have a big vocabulary. Great mystery series.
November 17, 2022
Interesting twist
I really thought I had this one figured out, but I enjoyed the plot twist and final revelation of the killer's identity.
You'll enjoy the read.
I really thought I had this one figured out, but I enjoyed the plot twist and final revelation of the killer's identity.
You'll enjoy the read.
December 26, 2022
So very British. Not sure when (or if) I'll continue the series .
January 12, 2023
Great second book. Love Noakes as a character
July 31, 2023
The promo says heart stopping, for me it was heart stopping in boredom
April 17, 2024
Really Good Reading
The storyline was exciting and suspenseful. The characters were very intense. I highly recommend this book for all mystery readers!
The storyline was exciting and suspenseful. The characters were very intense. I highly recommend this book for all mystery readers!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews