When Lady Eleanor Swift is asked by her favourite teacher to return to school to give an inspirational talk about her solo travels around the world, Ellie does not expect a dead body. We, of course, do. A Lesson in Murder is seventh in the 1920s-set murder mystery series by Verity Bright. These books are so good. When Mrs Wadsworth is murdered, Detective Chief Inspector Seldon is prevented from taking over the case. Many of the pupils at St Mary’s are the children of diplomats and politicians meaning that police presence on site is forbidden in order to avoid press attention. And so with Seldon – Hugh, to Ellie – observing from a distance, and occasional meetings with Ellie and her butler Clifford in a tea shop, the two amateur sleuths move into the school as undercover detectives. Clifford – a bit of a stretch, this – joins the maintenance team and Ellie becomes temporary house mistress of her old lodgings, Holly House. A list of suspects is drawn up and a plan for questioning is agreed. But of course, Ellie never sticks to a plan. Then a second teacher is found dead.
When Eleanor meets the girls of Holly House, aged 9-11, it’s a reminder of how young she is for all she has achieved. At nine years old she arrived at the school, grieving the death of her parents, lonely at boarding school and her uncle always away, she was rebellious, mischievous and brave. Can she bring her spirit to today’s girls living in Holly House, the youngest of the houses, the overlooked, the quiet and bullied? And what memories of her own past will be unearthed? This storyline is rather endearing, reminding me of Malory Towers. Meanwhile in the background but with increasing intensity, the shy sparring between Eleanor and Hugh continues. As they circle each other with longing, unable to take the next step, being awkward, saying the wrong thing, I wonder how much longer this can be maintained.
The best of the series so far; I seem to keep writing that about these books, the last time was Mystery by the Sea. Both books fill in gaps about Eleanor’s family history and her life before we met her in A Very English Murder. Two thirds of the way through her investigations at St Mary’s, Ellie overhears another truth revealed. ‘Oh Ellie, how many more sad secrets do you have to uncover before you can catch a killer?’ A line not just applicable to the murder, but to Ellie’s own life.
Excellent.

Read my review of other books in the Lady Eleanor Swift series:-
A VERY ENGLISH MURDER #1LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH AT THE DANCE #2LADYELEANORSWIFT
A WITNESS TO MURDER #3LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER IN THE SNOW #4LADYELEANORSWIFT
MYSTERY BY THE SEA #5LADYELEANORSWIFT
MURDER AT THE FAIR #6LADYELEANORSWIFT
DEATH ON A WINTER’S DAY #8LADYELEANORSWIFT

If you like this, try:-
‘The Blood Detective’ by Dan Waddell #NigelBarnes
‘An Expert in Murder’ by Nicola Upson #1JosephineTey
‘The Cornish Village Murder’ by Fiona Leitch #2NoseyParker

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview A LESSON IN MURDER by @BrightVerity https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7Dw via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:-