That'll Teach Her by Maz Evans.
Published 27th February 2025 by Headline.
From the cover of the book:
As educators go, Claudia Stitchwell makes Miss Hannigan look like Miss Honey. But when the reviled headteacher drops dead in the school hall, a group of sceptical parents suspect the nut allergy explanation doesn't add up - they believe someone wanted to teach Miss Stitchwell a lesson.Only four people could have killed Stitchwell: Hattie, the adored school cook; Kiera, the hard-working teaching assistant; Clive, the loathed school bursar and Ben, the popular deputy head. All of them are liars... but only one is the murderer.
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?
***********
When Miss Claudia Stichwell, the universally disliked headteacher of St Nonnatus Primary School, drops dead in the school hall, no one is really sorry for her demise. However, a small group of parents are reluctant to believe this was the result of a nut allergy - instead, the Robocoppers group chat think she was murdered.
There are four people who could have committed the crime - Hattie, the school cook; Keira, the teaching assistant; Clive, the school bursar; and Ben, the deputy head - but who is guilty? Can the parents track down the killer?
This highly original little gem by Maz Evans unfurls through an unconventional mix of newspaper articles from the Flatford Gazette; transcripts of parent group chats; statements from police interviews with witnesses; Tickly Tiger's Diary; school newsletters; and narratives from the suspects that are as informative as they are misleading. Each provides pieces of the puzzle to discover the solution to the conundrum of who killed Miss Stichwell, and taken together make for a very enjoyable murder mystery caper.
This book is so much fun. Evans' sense of humour, and her considerable talents as a writer of engaging fiction for demanding younger readers, shine out in a crime story that is full of shenanigans pitched perfectly for a grown-up audience. Oodles of sharply observed minutiae about primary school life from staff, students, parents, and the wider school community make this story incredibly relatable - especially the content of the parent chats (the non-murdery bits, that is) and the adventures of Tickly Tiger. I found myself swinging between teary-eyed nostalgia about my own children's school days, and palpable relief that they left them behind along while ago!
I bowled merrily along with this tale, chuckling steadily at the same time as testing my little grey cells with a nicely contrived mystery. Funny, clever, and entertaining, this was an absolute joy.
That'll Teach Her is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Headline for sending my a proof of this book in return for an honest review.
About the author:
Maz Evans is the author of the bestselling Who Let The Gods Out?, Vi Spy, and Exploding Life Of Scarlett Fife series, which have collectively sold to 22 countries worldwide and received over 20 award nominations, including the Carnegie Medal, Branford Boase, Books Are My Bag, Waterstones Children's Book of the Year. Her acclaimed live events have featured at Hay, Imagine, Edinburgh, Bath, Cheltenham and countless festivals around the UK. That'll Teacher Her is her second crime novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment