You start this book by being thrown straight in to a group chat between a group of parents whose children all go to the same primary school
If you've ever had a child at school, you're going to recognise all of the parent types that are here and that the main thing that they have in common, aside from the school that their kids go to - is their hatred for the headmistress.

When the hated head dies, there are four suspects. The school cook, the deputy head, a teaching assistant and the bursar.

Told in mixed media, incorporating police statements, local newspaper reports, school newsletters as well as the parents group chat, you'll find yourself trying to solve the clues.

This is so well written and pacy with plenty of suspense. School yard politics and gossip spread thick and fast, along with plenty of clues - or are they red herrings?

Such an original concept, written with equal sprinklings of wit, this will make you laugh whilst you're frantically turning the pages and sitting on the edge of your seat.

When the unpopular head teacher Claudia Stitchwell unexpectedly dies in the school hall, a group of suspicious parents think that something does not add up and four suspects come to light, each with their own reasons for wanting to commit murder. Will the group of parents discover the clues and work out who the culprit is?

This is my first book by this author but certainly not my last. I found this to be a very entertaining, fun read and enjoyed that the story was not told traditionally, but instead told in texts and different media formats, finding that this made it more original and interesting. I really loved the chat between the different parents and the easy banter between them, while finding the school politics and school newsletters filled with plenty of humour. I found myself laughing out loud at some parts.

There were some great characters within the story, some that you love to hate and the usual parental stereotypes you find at school. There were a lot of characters however, which took me a while to get used to them all, although I enjoyed all the drama. I also found myself trying to decipher the clues to work out who was responsible, while having fun discovering the twists and secrets a long the way. This was a really funny, clever and well written mystery overall. I am really looking forward to discovering more by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Another brilliant read from Maz Evans.
Told through a mixture of prose, witness statements, emails and chat messages, this is the familiar story of parents with kids at primary school. It's the drama of the parent chat, the politics, the lost clothes, the one thousand things to sign up for. Oh, except the head teacher dies and some of the parents are convinced it's murder. That's not happened at my kid's school yet.
This twisty tale of lies and secrets will keep you very entertained and guessing up until the very end. With a cast of characters you'll love and hate, and a lot of humor thrown in for good measure, I'd recommend this to any crime fiction fan who doesn't mind not taking things too seriously once in a while.

I absolutely LOVED Maz Evans' Over My Dead Body so I was over the moon to find out I had been accepted for this ARC.

That'll Teach Her is another hilariously brilliant book. It did take me a few chapters to get used to the format of this one, and there are LOTS of characters introduced in a short space of time. Normally I don't like it when books make me work so hard in the first few chapters, but the format made it enjoyable. Everyone who has ever been in a parents' WhatsApp group will be laughing out loud...

Everything about this book just works - the plot, the characters, and the humour. I loved it, and I'm sure Maz will forever be an auto-buy author for me now!

Not really sure this book was 100% for me,I did enjoy parts of it and found myself smiling throughout but there were a lot of characters to get to know and the message writing style did become a bit too much
None the less I did finish it and it was different

That’ll Teach Her is a fantastic murder mystery that combines deft humour and characterisation with a nefariously good plot.

Maz Evans just cemented herself as a must-read author for me. Between this and the brilliant Over My Dead Body, her darkly comic and wonderfully inventive mysteries are compelling, charismatic and conniving. This was another excellent outing.

I love a mystery that takes an innovative approach to its narrative stylings, particularly if it has multi-media elements. Here, Evans weaves in snippets and excerpts from various Whatsapp chats. She perfectly captures that passive-aggressive snideness of a parents’ group chat. It was delicious reading, especially seeing the contrasting messages in off-shoot side groups against what they would say to everyone. We also get transcripts of police interviews with suspects, creating a complex tapestry of truth and lies surrounding the central death. This combines the mixed media stylings and wickedly sharp mysteries of Janice Hallett, with Evans’ excellent humour and observational wit. It genuinely made me cackle with how true to life it was. You can recognise all of these types instantly.

The actual mystery is so well-constructed as well. You get pulled in and Evans leads you down rabbit holes. There are plenty of fiendish tricks and turns to get caught up in. It has a darkness to proceedings that is chilling, particularly with some of the later developments in the plot. Claudia Stitchwell is a piece of work. You start to question who she wouldn’t hurt or what she wouldn’t do to keep the stellar reputation of her school intact. There is the additional factors of class and privilege coming into play too, with the elitism and expectations of private schooling amplifying the tension. All sorts of assumptions feed into the narrative and also create humour in the group chat messages.

That’ll Teach Her is a sharp and socially conscious murder mystery with a wicked smirk on its face. Evans delivers another addictive read.

Welcome to St Nonnatus Primary School where the headmistress is dead, the circumstances are suspicious, there are only four viable suspects and as every parent knows, being on the school group chat can be murder.

There is so much promise with the premise of this story and as soon as I saw it was described as the mixed media style of Janice Hallett meeting the humour of Richard Osman in a primary school setting I knew I needed to read it. Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. It really was fun to start with but felt too long for the plot so once I got to half way I started to get frustrated that the story was being stretched so much to fill the page count. There were also too many characters who had very light characterisations (predominantly stereotypes of the kinds of people you find in a typical UK playground) which all felt quite superfluous for me.

Despite this I did enjoy the humour, the mixed media use and the premise overall and it really is a quick read overall, I just wish it had been shorter and tighter in its character use and plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for this digital review copy of "That'll Teach Her" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

I really enjoyed the mixed media style of this book and the story really held my attention. Will definitely read Maz’s other books. Thank you for the opportunity to read this before release

The style of Janice Hallet meets the wit of Richard Osman.

Told through their group chat messages a group of parents don’t believe the headmistresses death was it was accidental, they think it was murder. With multiple suspects within the school who wanted Stichwell dead - can they crack the case?

“Piecing together evidence from the daily drama and drudgery of the parents' group chat, local press, police reports, school newsletters, and good, old-fashioned gossip, the determined detective parents are doing their homework to crack the case Will you spot the clues? Can you deduce whodunnit? And for the love of all things holy, does anyone have this week's spellings?”

I LOVE mixed media murder mystery - think Janice Hallet - so this was right up my street! However, as I read this in e-arc form, this made it incredibly hard to read. There were some formatting issues that meant the group chat elements were hard to follow - as they didn’t translate well into kindle format. It was jumbled up and difficult to tell who’s message was who’s - especially when earlier messages were being forwarded or replied to.

Overall I enjoyed the multiple concurrent storylines running throughout. There was focus on numerous main characters throughout the novel and each had their own storyline. This was done seamlessly throughout until they all merged at the novels conclusion!

In terms of the characters, they were caricatures of who we’d typically expect to see in a school environment (especially in a church village). An old mean headmistress, Ebenezer Scrooge type looking after the finances, a stalwart dinner lady who takes no nonsense and a collection of every type of parent imaginable. At some points their behaviour was eye roll worthy, where I thought surely they haven’t just done/said ‘that’ but overall their characterisations added to the overall humorous tone of the book.

Overall this was a humorous ‘who done it’ murder mystery set in a primary school. Recommended for anyone who wants a quick read, it does however touch on some more serious themes. So despite the overall humorous tone I’d recommend checking the trigger warnings before picking this one up!

ARC copy provided by Headline & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the story, which was very cleverly laid out, but the style of writing was not my cup of tea. The people’s perspectives I found enjoyable, but not the bits of WhatsApp and SMS. I found they distracted me.

The unpleasant headmistress dies of a nut allergy, was it an accident, was it murder? I enjoyed the different characters, parents, teachers, ancillary staff, all with particular reasons to dislike the headmistress.


NOTE TO EDITORS
In some areas I found following the story difficult as excerpts from different parts of the book appeared in the wrong area

I do not read many books for myself, preferring to read so I can recommend and discuss with the children in school but Maz Evans was my exception and she didn’t let me down.

I really love the way Maz Evans writes her books. Quick, witty, relatable, great characters, what’s not to love? I’d not long finished reading Over My Dead Body, so was extremely excited to see this one on Netgalley.
It didn’t disappoint. As someone who has 5 kids and has dealt with the school and parent groups for 20 years, a lot of this book felt very familiar, and was easy to just get lost in.
I can’t wait for more from this author, I’m always guaranteed a laugh and great read from her.
I’d definitely recommend this and any of her previous books.

A really fascinating insight into the workings of a middle school, with some brilliantly funny secrets and lies coming to light. How far would you go to protect yourself and your loved ones. Great characters and some gleefully dark humour throughout.

The formula and format of this made it a little difficult for me, I find it hard to get engrossed in this style of storytelling, although credit to the author I did still enjoy. Just not as much as her previous books. So beware that it is told in emails, statements and group chats.

I was looking forward to this, but it didn’t quite meet the mark that I expect from a Maz Evans books.
Liked the premise and story idea

Detecting by Whatsapp. Witty dig at school systems, great whodunnit.

Love Maz Evans. Me and my eldest love her children's series. I enjoyed her first adult novel and this had me entertained and occasionally sniggering.

It's a murder! Much detested Headteacher at a religious school dies in mysterious circumstances during a school evening event. The parent group online, including a former police officer, speculates, gossips and shares class spelling lists and suspects.

We meet the new Head - Ben. The attractive TA Keira. Much-loved cook Hattie. School bursar Clive. Each with secrets and possible motives. We follow the story through online conversations, through school letters from office manager Marcia (who may have been a Marine) whose letters to parents/guardians/carers never fail to be hilarious in their style, their quotes and their content: "Please check that your child's phone content is age-appropriate. For your information, 'OneNightFriend' is not a bedtime story app." Brilliant.

There's lots going on, lots of red herrings and school-based horrors - vomit, Ofsted, scholarships, lost PE kits. Every parent will relate. Though maybe not to the murder!

Hugely fun, I enjoyed this immensely and had a great time guessing who was the murderer. And why. And how! Would love to see the attempt to film this for TV.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

I really enjoyed this authors children's book Who let the Gods out' and I work in a school so had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately it didn't quite work for me. The group chat sections were too lengthy and there were too many characters. I felt the book catered to stereotypes of school staff (I know it was a bit tongue in cheek) but I didn't enjoy it and was too lost about who was who.and the parents were a bit too 'Boden' for me to care. Sorry to say.

A really fun, fast paced book. The mystery element was fun and looked at in an interesting way, the mix of multimedia and normal storytelling made it a really fun way to read. There were a LOT of characters, but a main few who we really got to know, and it wasn't too much. Even the changing points of view wasn't a distraction, because they flowed together within the story. You were kept guessing until the end, never quite sure who had committed the murder, I know my thoughts switched a few times! Not all characters were likeable but they were disliked for a reason overall, others were more misunderstood and you came to understand their actions as the story progressed. It was entertaining to read about this small school community, and all the things that go on in such a small group. There was so much more than just the mystery which I really liked. A definite worthwhile read!

Punchy, easy to read chapters and a lot of laughs. Some of the characters are awful and some are fantastic. It was well thought out and fun to read.

Set in a primary school and told through parent group chat, tThe headteacher dies under suspicious circumstances at the school and a group of parents, led by an ex cop, try to discover who did it
Really enjoyable read

Includes the usual humour from the author. A great read, would recommend.

When a despised head teacher dies in mysterious circumstances, members of the year six WhatsApp group decide to investigate.

I enjoyed this very much. It was reminiscent of Janice Hallett’s books with its combination of messages, emails, written text and story, with a bit of JM Hall thrown in with the humorous school setting!

It was well written, the mystery kept me engaged and found the ending really satisfying!

I’d highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a humorous twist.

*** Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher ***