I listened to the audiobook read by Jayne Entwistle and highly recommend it! Such a fun murder mystery listen.

A group of Victorian-era schoolgirls must conceal the murders of their schoolmistress and her scalawag of a brother in order to avoid getting sent home to their dull and dreary lives. They not only manage to bury the bodies, but successfully fool a host of neighbors by disguising one of their own as Mrs. Plackett.

The narrative bounces from girl to girl, each with funny and helpful nicknames so you can keep them all straight: Smooth Kitty, Stout Alice, Dull Martha, Disgraceful Mary Jane, Dear Roberta, Pocked Louise, and Dour Elinor. The afterward is fun too, the author talks about all the research that went into painting an accurate Victorian-era school for girls: what they ate, how they dressed, and what kinds of subjects they would have been taught. There is also some interesting social commentary throughout (without being preachy) that modernizes the story, eg: how domestic workers were treated, how difficult it was for a brilliant girl with a scientific mind to be taken seriously or allowed to become a doctor.

All around fun for the whole family! My kids will enjoy this.