What a blooming brilliant book! I love Maz’s writing for children but her crime fiction for adults is just top notch.

When the headteacher of the village primary school dies in mysterious circumstances, it becomes the talk of the town. No one is sad to see her go and most people have a motive to kill her but who did it or was it just an accident?

Well, the local bobby isn’t the sharpest tool on the shelf so it comes down to the parent what’s app chat for Tigers class to hash it all out. One being a former detective offers plenty of sound advice and ideas but it takes some time to work it all out.

Thrown into the mix are the staff members whose stories truly come to light amidst the drama of the investigation. They all have secrets, some of which are being blackmailed and others saved for special occasions. While the staff struggle to keep the school going, the dreaded call from Ofsted looms and another murder takes place.

Norovirus rips through the school, a teen is doing some online vigilante justice for pervs in the community and Ofsted finally calls. All hell breaks loose and it is a book that I completely devoured. It has heart- so much heart and I adored the characters and their relationships and connections. It has humour and awkward situations aplenty.

This is an absolute must read! Pre-order now and I promise you will not be disappointed!

This is an action packed fun murder read told in a variety of styles included first person, WhatsApp type groups, newsletters and more which makes for an engaging read and some good character perspectives. It’s rare I find a book that makes me audibly laugh but this definitely did, there was so much irreverence in amongst the storyline that I loved but it still has a strong storyline too with the main characters personal issues as well as the mystery of who the murderer is. This is a lively and definitely engaging read with fabulous characters and plenty of motive as well as some very relatable parental quibbles and tribulations.

The older – and allegedly more mature – I get, the fewer adult books I read. To be tempted into picking something up, I need to be fairly confident that it is going to be something that I’ll enjoy and much of what is aimed at my demographic is bland and formulaic, unlike the vast majority of the children’s and YA books I read. An author who could never be accused of slipping into mediocrity is Maz Evans. Still perhaps best known for her astonishingly good Who Let the Gods Out series for middle grade readers, her debut adult title Over My Dead Body, published last year, showed that she could not only hold young readers spellbound with her trademark mix of wit, humour and the ability to convey the whole range of human emotions without ever being too much, but also adults, in a murder mystery that was hugely entertaining and which – quite rightly – received rave reviews.

In this, her latest title, we join the community of a primary school just as its head teacher is murdered and are immediately hooked into watching the events that follow. As the inevitable speculation and gossip rear their ugly heads, we get to know the many suspects and can only wait and hope for clues as to whodunnit in another extraordinary story that blends razor-sharp humour with intrigue, confirming that Maz’s ability as a writer of the very best adult books is second to none.

It is following the October half term break that we are introduced to our players, as the members of the Year 6 parents and carers’ online group chat discuss that evening’s meeting in school and the possibility that head of St Nonnatus Claudia Stitchwell will be using it to announce her retirement – something they are all praying for. As the conversation progresses, Tanya – who is actually at the meeting – breaks the bad news that the head is not in fact leaving and the conversation turns to how much those present had hoped for the promotion of deputy head and Year 6 teacher Ben Andrews to the post.

With their hopes dashed, the conversation in the group turns to the more usual discussion of what spellings have been set, missing uniform and how creepy the school bursar Clive is before Tanya shares the shocking news that Miss Stitchwell has suddenly died. When the narrative switches to a report from local rag The Flatford Gazette, we learn that the death was caused by a fatal nut allergy – something that in theory shouldn’t have happened in a supposedly nut-free environment.

As Mr Andrews steps up to act as the school’s head, the imaginations of the Year 6 adults and staff members go into overdrive as they speculate as to just how the always vigilant head ingested nuts – something that the authorities seem to think was a tragic accident. With the deceased universally disliked, there are many who had a motive for killing her, but few had the opportunity, and a small group of parents determine to investigate just what happened for themselves. As life within the school continues, can they uncover the evidence that will prove that this was a deliberate act? And if they can, who will they discover to be the murderer?

Those who have any connection to school, whether as a parent/carer or member of staff, will recognise so many of the characters and situations that are shared here. Whether it be the humblebragging mother in the chat group or the comments in the school’s regular communications with home regarding the parking situation, the author’s writing is spot on in its observations of what actually goes on in a school community. Spilt between the group chats, first person narratives of some of the staff, newspaper reports and emails home from the office, as we read on, we start to learn who is who and which individuals had both the opportunity and motive to murder Miss Stitchwell.

Along the way, the story contains some absolutely hilarious parts balanced perfectly by the utterly credible – often quite sad – stories behind the lives of the main characters, all of whom are flawed in some way and all of whom we recognise as people we have encountered in one form or another at some point. Drawn with the most enormous skill, they are individuals for whom we feel a deep empathy (other than one, who is totally repellant) and cannot possibly imagine being a murderer but amongst them there are acts of blackmail and betrayal which prompt us to wonder just how far each of them is prepared to go in order to get their hearts’ desires, making this compelling reading.

I’m sure there will be readers far smarter than me who are able to pick up on the clues that are hidden along the way and work out just who was behind Miss Stitchwell’s untimely demise, but I was left wondering just who the murderer was until the bitter end, which made it all the more enjoyable for me to read. Huge fun, this is a book that I can – and will – highly recommend and I cannot wait to read whatever Maz writes next.