Private Lessons

I would like to thank Netgalley and Muswell Press for an advance copy of Private Lessons, the second novel to feature DI Jim Garibaldi of the Met, set in Barnes.

Garibaldi is called to Barnes Old Common cemetery where a jogger has found a dead body covered in blood. The victim worked as a private tutor for the Forum Agency, a highly successful company in a lucrative market and had just come back from a summer visit to Italy with the Rivetti family, both of whom appear to be keeping secrets, but so are his friends.

I enjoyed Private Lessons, which has an engrossing mystery and likeable characters. I also found it fairly eye opening on the lengths people with money will go to to give their children a competitive advantage in their education. So much for levelling up. I found it distasteful, as I think the author intends.

The novel is told mostly from the investigative point of view after the prologue, which I think gives away too much of the motive to the reader, and feels like a catch up narrative to the reader’s knowledge. There are plenty of secrets and omissions to be ferreted out and these interviews and re-interviews take up most of the novel. I found them interesting, but, essentially, red herrings. I had guessed much of the solution by the time it came, but I was still impressed by how it was worked out. I liked the neat irony that it was DS Milly Gardner who made it, whom Garibaldi views as less smart than him.

Garibaldi is a man with tragedy in his past, but nowadays I think he might be a figure of some fun to his colleagues with his refusal to drive and his love of country music. He is also fairly arrogant about his intellect, prone to quotations at every turn and dismissive of others’ lack of knowledge. He isn’t overly impressed that Gardner rarely gets his allusions, but, then he overlooks her skills. She is an empathetic interviewer and has a lot of common sense.

Private Lessons is a good read that I can recommend.

This is a gem of a book.

If you like procedurals and thrillers and wanted something new from the saturated market, DI Garibaldi is for you.

I loved this book, I love the quirks and the well observed and told story and I will be back for the next book.

Really clever, punchy and great.

It's the first mystery I read in this series and I want to read the first as Garibaldi is quite an intriguing character even if not always likeable.
The mystery is well plotted and there's plenty of twists, not all were unexpected but I enjoyed the story and characters.
It's a solid mystery and the author is a good storyteller.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I was hooked on to the story from start to finish. I loved the plot and the characters. DI Garibaldi just made it to my list of favorite detectives of modern times.

The story begins with a scene from a cemetery where a young man tries to mug a group of teenagers. The teens retaliate by kicking the man to ground. Fast forward to present, Giles is a tutor associated with Forum agency. He's currently at the Rivettis, a rich Italian family with whom he toured one summer (as a tutor). Mrs., Rivetti tells Giles that her daughter's tutor has resigned so would Giles be interested to tutor the daughter too?

The same evening, Giles attends a party hosted by Forum Agency. The next morning, a hungover jogger finds Giles' body in the cemetery. Garibaldi and Gardner arrive at the scene of crime - there's no ID on the victim. Later, they learn the victim is Giles, a private tutor. As the detectives start to dig deeper into Giles' life, they realize that everybody associated with the victim have something to hide.

The students are reluctant to talk to the detectives - some want to come forth and tell them about Giles but hesitate, while others believe it's better to keep mum. The founders of the tutor agency and the Rivettis aren't forthcoming either - they are more focused on how this murder might ruin their public image.

The mystery behind the murder kept me guessing till the end. Multiple suspects and their secrets made me wonder if Giles' charming was just a facade. The identity of the killer and their reason for murder was not all that surprising but yes, it did justice to the suspense built throughout the story.

Overall, Private Lessons by Bernard O'Keeffe is an engrossing, unique, and interesting police procedural. If you are looking for a riveting read, I recommend you give this book a try.

4.5/5