Book Review: School for Murder by Robert Barnard (1984)

Synopsis: Run by the penny-pinching headmaster Edward Crumwallis, Burleigh was a boys' preparatory school in name only, providing a below average education with an outdated curriculum, second-hand books and a staff of teachers that have lost their passion. To make matters worse, Crumwallis is a poor judge of character and chooses teenager Hilary Frome to be the new head boy despite everyone else at the school knowing Frome is evil. 

After a series of mishaps ranging from ten students accidentally getting drunk to one being cut up by a razor hidden in a towel, the school is put on edge. Then the unthinkable happens, Hilary Frome is poisoned and died. Was it an accident or was it murder?

Review: I have attempted to read some of Robert Barnard's books in the past and, while I didn't necessarily hate them, I also didn't find myself impressed. However, I am always willing to give authors another chance and requested School for Murder through our library last week.

My opinion of the book turned out to be similar to the opinion I had before - meh.

The story itself is intriguing. The victim, Frome, is by most accounts, a horrible person. Even his best friend, Malcolm Pickerage, was clearly someone Frome was taking advantage of and based on some not-so-subtle hints, sexually molesting. As a result, when he died, there were plenty of suspects ranging from Pickerage to just about every teacher.

At the same time, Burleigh was so poorly run, an accidental poisoning was just as (if not more) likely, whether it was from some random "medicine" provided by an unqualified school nurse to drinking sherry from an unclean glass. Since Crumwallis was such a miser, it was also possible the food the school provided was no longer good.

My main problem with the book is the author doesn't take full advantage of all of this and instead lets the cat out of the bag a bit too early. Basically, there is no doubt who is behind the cruel pranks that happened prior to Frome's death and once the book reveals how he was poisoned, it wasn't difficult to figure out who put it there and why.

I also thought this book would have been considerably better had it been told solely from Superintendent Michael Pumfrey's perspective, with the book starting after Frome was murdered and him learning the various details about the victim and the school itself during the course of his investigation rather than the reader learning many of those details several chapters before he did. It would have resulted in a few more surprises and maybe a mystery that wasn't so easy to solve.

Final Opinion: It's a good premise with some intriguing characters but the reader is given a bit too much information at times, lessening the overall mystery. I didn't hate it. I just didn't think it was anything I'd consider memorable.

My Grade: C

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Here are some reviews of other murder mysteries:

Book Review: The Skeleton in the Closet by M. C. Beaton (2001)

Book Review: Bought the Farm by Sean Patrick Little (2023)

Book Review: Murder in the Ranks by Kristi Jones (2024)

Book Review: A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie (1950)