ARC Review: Schooled in Murder by Victoria Gilbert

Schooled in Murder
Author: Victoria Gilbert
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (January 7, 2025)

Description: A mystery writer must solve a real murder case before an innocent girl is condemned in this series debut from acclaimed author Victoria Gilbert, perfect for fans of Ellery Adams and Lorna Barrett.

Jennifer "Jen" Dalton is an author and educator at Clarion University in Virginia. She loves her job, but some of her petty coworkers look down on her for writing genre fiction. As members of the English department, they wish to encourage students to pursue higher literary aspirations. When a humiliating confrontation between an uppity professor and one of Jen’s students, Mia, escalates, no one thinks much of it. Until his dead body is found along with evidence incriminating Mia.

Jen knows Mia couldn’t have killed him, but Mia’s suspicious disappearance might as well be a proclamation of guilt. With the sleuthing skills Jen has acquired writing murder mysteries, she’s determined to solve the case and clear Mia’s name.

Along with the help of her fellow sleuthers—Christine Kubiak, a cafeteria manager; Zachary Flynn, the charming but annoying campus psychologist; and Brianna Rowley, a librarian—Jen must catch the real killer before there’s another murder on the books.

My Thoughts: This series debut stars Jen Dalton who is an author of mysteries and who is in charge of the writing center at Clarion University. When one of her mentees is accused of murdering her belittling English professor, Jen is on the case for a real-life mystery. 

As she investigates along with her friends Cristine Kubiak who is a cafeteria manager and Brianna Rowley who is a librarian, she learns to appreciate the dangers of the situations she puts her fictional characters into since she is putting herself into danger for real. 

I enjoyed her budding relationship with Zachary Flynn who is a psychologist first assigned to counsel her after the murder. I liked that he tried to be the voice of reason when Jen had her more dangerous ideas. 

Jen had lots of intriguing suspects including the wife and the mistress of the murdered professor. Then there was her friend who is an English department rival of the deceased and even the head of the college who might have wanted the professor dead. 

This was a nice introduction to Jen Dalton and her friends and an enjoyable mystery.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.