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There comes a time in every teacher’s life when he must face his Nemesis – the four yearly Ofsted Inspection. The team arrives at Leighford High one glorious summer and proceeds to stick its collective nose into classrooms various.
Maxwell’s immediate bête noire is Sally Meninger, the attractive, vivacious Humanities expert who has doubts about Maxwell’s metier as a teacher. Out on the town one night, the Head of Sixth Form finds her in an intimate situation with Alan Whiting, another of the team.
By the third day, with tensions running high at the High School, Whiting is found stabbed to death in the office set aside for the Inspection team. The police are called in, led by DCI Henry Hall and Maxwell’s lover Jacquie Carpenter. Meanwhile, the Inspection and school life go on as normally as possible and Maxwell cannot help notice that Sally is not as distraught at Whiting’s death as he expected.
The police discover that Sally Meninger’s private life is rather irregular and it is Maxwell who catches her in flagrante with his Headteacher James Diamond. Events move quickly and Diamond is arrested on suspicion of the murder of Whiting.
But is it that simple? Maxwell knows his colleagues and cannot believe that Diamond has murder in him, so he sets off on a quest of his own, Jacquie as always his woman on the inside. DCI Hall is as obdurate as ever and Maxwell’s staffroom oppos resent the hornet’s nest that the Head of Sixth Form is stirring up.
Maxwell tackles the Ofsted team one by one. Who is it among Mike Tomlinson’s finest who has a secret? Who has set Diamond up? Maxwell incurs Jacquie’s wrath and risks their relationship in bringing the real murderer to justice, with just a little help from the unholy trio rock band called the Yawning Hippos.
In this ninth outing for ‘Mad Max’ Maxwell, the lid is well and truly taken off small town Britain – and you’ll never look at an Ofsted Inspector (or a Headmaster) in the same way again.
book reviews
- South Wales Argus
"A most enjoyable thriller...With a large dollop of humour added to the mix of mystery and intrigue, this is a tasty read from beginning to end and left me wishing for another helping." - Oxford Times
"A good old murder mystery....Plenty of humour as well as a rolicking good story."
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