A school bully is found dead. Did he deliberately take aspirin that would kill him, was it given accidentally, or did someone swap the medications on purpose to kill?
The Murders at Fleat House is a police procedural centred around a boarding school. I wonder if it could have been the first book in a new series for this detective but unfortunately the author died before publication. The audiobook was narrated by Gemma Whelan who is a wonderful actor and has a fabulous voice which fully immersed me in the story.
Charlie was a popular and lively boy but also prone to bullying others. His sudden death is a shock: everyone knew of his life threatening allergy to aspirin so the police are called when it is unknown if the death is an accident, murder or suicide. Another character is then found dead and the police need to consider if there is a link between the two deaths.
The main detective is Jazz. She has resigned from the police force but her superior officer only put her on sabbatical. Now he calls on her to try to solve one last case before quitting. She is reeling from a messy divorce with a colleague but is determined to face the future so accepts leading the case.
There are a lot of characters as we explore the relationships and lives of the boys, the teachers, the police, and their families. A surprise confession is swiftly discounted and there are other red herrings to keep the reader guessing. I liked how the threads of the plot and subplots were woven together and was keen for Jazz to succeed and prove her ex wrong.
The Murders at Fleat House is an enjoyable police procedural novel with a great female lead detective.
Book blurb:
The Murders at Fleat House is a suspenseful and utterly compelling crime novel from the multi-million copy global bestseller, Lucinda Riley.
The sudden death of a pupil in Fleat House at St Stephen’s – a small private boarding school in deepest Norfolk – is a shocking event that the headmaster is very keen to call a tragic accident.
But the local police cannot rule out foul play and the case prompts the return of high-flying Detective Inspector Jazmine ‘Jazz’ Hunter to the force. Jazz has her own private reasons for stepping away from her police career in London, but reluctantly agrees to front the investigation as a favour to her old boss. Reunited with her loyal sergeant Alastair Miles, she enters the closed world of the school, and as Jazz begins to probe the circumstances surrounding Charlie Cavendish’s tragic death, events are soon to take another troubling turn.
Charlie is exposed as an arrogant bully, and those around him had both motive and opportunity to switch the drugs he took daily to control his epilepsy. As staff at the school close ranks, the disappearance of young pupil Rory Millar and the death of an elderly Classics master provide Jazz with important leads, but are destined to complicate the investigation further. As snow covers the landscape and another suspect goes missing, Jazz must also confront her personal demons . . .
Then, a particularly grim discovery at the school makes this the most challenging murder investigation of her career. Because Fleat House hides secrets darker than even Jazz could ever have imagined . . .
