
Member Reviews

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Schooled in Murder is the first book in a new series, Campus Sleuth Mysteries. Jennifer Dalton, author and educator in a university, is a great main character in Schooled in Murder. Brianna and Zach, who also work at the university, are helping Jennifer to investigate, in order to find the real culprit and clear the accused student's name. The setting and the characters are the driving force in this great cozy mystery. I had previously read and enjoyed the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series by Victoria Gilbert, and I was definitely most pleased with this new book. Ms. Gilbert knows how to spark the reader's interest by building a solid mystery, with a smart storyline. I highly recommend Schooled in Murder, it's guaranteed to please cozy mystery readers who like stories involving writing, books and/or school.

This was one of the best cozy mysteries I've read in a long time! As a librarian, I might be a bit biased since the setting of this book revolves around a library, and the campus librarian turns out to be a super cool sleuth :) But I really liked all the characters and thought the mystery was very well plotted. The language was immaculate, and the story's structure was perfect! I loved reading this book and looked forward to picking it up. I hope this becomes a long mystery series because I can't wait to read the next book :) A truly entertaining and delightful cozy mystery that's well worth reading.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this book. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.
In this cute cozy mystery we meet Jenn Dalton who is a mystery author who works at a college writing center. We meet Jenn as she gets off the elevator and discovers a dead body. Jenn goes downstairs and asks the person at the desk to call the police and the victim is a college professor who was seen shortly before his death arguing with a student who instantly becomes the prime suspect after nobody is able to get ahold of her. Jenn and her friends Bri and Christine act like ammeter sleuths in order to solve the case and clear a student’s name. Jenn realizes that her assistant Erin didn’t go to the doctor like she said that she did the day Doug the college professor died after being pushed off an mezzanine and they have a history since Doug kept Erin from becoming a tenured professor like she always wanted. Erin finds Jenn injured after falling trying to listen to two other suspects and confesses to killing Doug and not Glen. Glen Alexander died after being pushed by Poppi who was Doug’s mistress since he was the one that convinced Doug not to give Poppi credit on the book he was about to have published. Jenn also ends up with a love interest Zach who is a psychiatrist at the college Jenn works at. Just a typical cozy mystery which is why I love cozy mystery books plus this kind of reminds me of the Mystery 101 movies on Hallmark

Schooled in Murder is the start of a new cozy mystery series by Victoria Gilbert. The Campus Sleuth Mysteries series is a sort of spinoff of Gilbert's Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series. If you read that series you will recognize the college Jenn works at - Clairon (it is also the college that Amy Webber's husband Richard Muir works at) and the town Jenn lives in is the same one Amy does.
If you enjoy The Blue Ridge Library series then you will enjoy this one.
I had a little trouble envisioning Jenn as her own character. For some reason, I kept thinking of the main female character of another series Gilbert writes, A Hunter and Clewe Mystery.
There is a lot going on in this book. We have to meet the cast of characters. Not only is there the group of regular characters to introduce but also the random community members that are more involved as possible suspects. So I thought it was ambitious to have not one, but two murders.
I enjoyed the characters and if you enjoy a little romance in your cozy mysteries there is an obvious relationship setup that progresses quickly.
I liked the mystery and was invested in solving it. I'm not thrilled about how the solving of the mystery unfolded. I like to collect clues and then figure out the person and motive along the way. We had some of that along the way but then Jenn just tells us how it all happened. It felt like "oops, the story has become too long and I need to wrap it up".
It was still a fun little read - one that is sure to entertain.
My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Friday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2025/01/schooled-in-murder-by-victoria-gilbert.html

Schooled in Murder by Victoria Gilbert is the debut of A Campus Sleuth Mysteries. I have been reading cozy mysteries since the inception of the genre and I always look forward to beginning a new cozy mystery series. Unfortunately, I felt that Schooled in Murder missed the mark. Jennifer “Jen” Dalton is an unlikeable protagonist. She has a prickly personality that could have worked if done correctly, but it was off putting and annoying (made me tempted to toss her over the mezzanine). We meet Jen’s friends along with other characters, but they were not fleshed out (they were flat). We get scant details on them. I learned more about the writing center and its schedule. I wish the author had not tried to force a romance in the first book (we need to get to know the characters first). The mystery takes place in the first chapter which makes the story feel protracted. There are incidents along the way as well as a second murder. Jen does ask questions. The answers are then repeated, shared, and discussed with her friends. The guilty party can be identified early in the story (there might as well be a neon arrow pointed at the person). The second murder was unneeded. The reveal for it was rushed at the end. I liked that the author tied this series to A Blue Ridge Library Mysteries. Clarion College is where Richard Muir teaches dance. There are cameo by a couple of the characters (blink and you will miss them). Schooled in Murder has a good premise, but the story was disappointing.

Gilbert's new mystery series features an intriguing new sleuth and a unique setting, while maintaining some ties to her original cozy mystery series. An enjoyable read.

This is the first in a new series by Victoria Gilbert. I am a fan of her Booklovers B&B Mystery series, so I was excited to read this first installment of a new series.
Jen Dalton is a 32-yr old mystery writer who also leads the writers center at a university in northern Virginia. Jen finds the body of an English professor, who is not a fan of the genre fiction that she writes, at the college and then a student she is mentoring ends up the prime suspect. She finds herself with quite a few suspects. She has her team of sleuths to help and also the campus psychologist who develops an interest in Jen as well as the mystery.
This was good first book of a series. It did take me a little bit to get into the story and start enjoying the characters. I wasn't sure how much I really like Jen but towards the middle I started to see more of her personality and her interactions with the other characters warm up.
I look forward to the next book and getting to know these characters better.
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to read this ARC.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3 because I thought some of the plot was strange.
This new cozy series takes place on the fictional college campus of Clarion, where the head of the writing center (not a professor) and mystery author discovers a dead body in the library. It turns out a student she was mentoring was seen arguing with the deceased and is now a suspect in his murder. She does not think her mentee is capable of such a heinous act and decides to investigate. Now, I realize that people commit crimes for a lot of off the wall reasons but honestly murdering a professor over a C minus is a HUGE stretch, even for a fictional genre. In general, cozy mystery baddies usually have MUCH better motivations for their crimes.
So naturally, non-professor, a reference librarian and the cafeteria manager band together to try and solve the crime since the police don't have a better suspect. Now, I have read other cozies by Ms. Gilbert and I think she is suffering from the same fate as her protagonist where she is trying to find new unique plot points to fill her books and is running short of ideas.
I hung in there just to see what happens but honestly, I don't like any of the characters enough to continue the series.
My thanks to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A promising start to a new series by Victoria Gilbert.
Not quite a spinoff of her other series, the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries, this series is new, but the few touches from her other series made it feel familiar and comfy. I came away from this feeling neutral about the characters, not really connecting to them, but also not disliking them. I liked the setting and found myself nodding a long to many of the things, like the hours in the library and stressing over term papers.
One thing I really liked about this book is the murder happened in the first chapter. I felt it really started this book off at a good pace, and we could learn about the characters as we went.
I enjoyed this book and will continue with the series.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

YES! A new series by Victoria Gilbert! I love her Blue Ridge Library Mystery series, so I was delighted when I saw that she would have a new series, set in the same area, but with new characters!
Jennifer ‘Jenn’ Dalton is the director of the writing center at Clarion University (same college where Amy’s husband Richard from the Blue Ridge series teaches). Jenn is also a successful cozy mystery author, so she’s busy with working full time and writing!
Despite her busy schedule, Jenn is happy to mentor students like Mia, a talented romance writer. Many in the English Department at Clarion look down their noses at genre fiction, and Mia has several unpleasant (and loud!) encounters with one professor in particular.
So it doesn’t look good when that professor is found murdered, clutching one of Mia’s assignments. The police zero in on Mia as the prime suspect, but Jenn just knows she can’t be guilty. Using her sleuthing skills she’s acquired writing cozy murder mysteries, Jenn dives into an investigation of her own, along with Christine Kubiak, a cafeteria manager at the university, Zachary Flynn, the charming but annoying campus psychologist, and Brianna Rowley, a university librarian.
This was such a fun read. Solid mystery with not just one murder, but two and ending had me sitting straight up in bed! I love the sleuthing team, especially that they all come from different areas of the university. It’s so fun that Jenn lives in Taylorsford – I love the crossovers from the other series. There’s also a romance subplot that is entertaining and just the perfect amount to balance the mystery. Wonderful cozy details bring the story to life. I also enjoyed the campus setting. I was sad when I finished! @crookedlanebooks

Schooled in Murder by Victoria Gilbert is thrilling in that it takes place at a school and all the suspects are students or teachers. What is even scarier is that Jenn discovers the body which apparently had fallen from the mezzanine in the library. Jenn’s job at the school is to be director of the writing center. She doesn’t actually teach but she schedules and supervises herself and a team of other adults and students who assist students with projects. It is a forward thinking program and not everyone on campus is thrilled with it. Jenn is also a published mystery writer with ten books under her belt. The man she found was a writing professor, a good one, who didn’t approve of genre fiction, such as mystery or romance. This actually introduced the first suspect: a young woman who is a romance writer. He had not been able to see past her genre to simply grade the writing. They had had a very public argument, now he was dead, and she was nowhere to be found.
Jenn is a good character: very organized, open, and friendly. Most everyone she comes in contact with loves her. A new and interesting character is introduced in this book. Dr. Zachary Flynn, a psychologist who had been sent to be sure Jenn was fine by the provost. She shrugged him off at first, but they slowly became friends, and he helped Jenn and her small crew investigate, not really warming to the idea. It is a good mystery with, as always, a sad ending when the murderer is uncovered. It was an entertaining investigation and so many of the minor characters continued to be fleshed out by the author, always a good thing. Cozy mysteries are character-driven, so that is important. Such an enjoyable book. Look forward to more.
I was invited to read Schooled in Murder by Crooked Lane Books. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #CrookedLaneBooks #VictoriaGilbert #SchooledInMurder

I would like to thank Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and Victoria Gilbert for the E ARC of this book.
This was a good strong start to a new series.
We meet Jenn, she is an author of cosy mysteries whilst also working at Clarion University in the library in it is writing centre, where she helps students with their many writing needs. Jenn is mentoring one particular student who has aspirations of being a writer, all is going well until there is an argument with one of the students professors and he is found dead by Jen. Unfortunately, there is evidence to put Mia in the police sights as the murder.
Jenn is sure that Mia has nothing to do with the murder and along with two friends from the University staff she sets out to prove Mia’s innocence, but are they putting themselves in danger?
I really enjoyed the setting, the characters were well written and engaging. I really enjoyed the banter between Jenn and Zach. The plot moved well and kept me fully engaged. I will definitely be continuing with this series and would like to read this authors other books.

Schooled in Murder is the first book in a new campus cozy mystery series by prolific and bookish author Victoria Gilbert. Due out 7th Jan 2025 from Crooked Lane Books, it's 272 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.
This is exactly as advertized; a cozy, readably enjoyable, and engaging light campus mystery with an appealing mystery writer and adjunct college writing mentor in the role of amateur sleuth, an appallingly awful loudmouth professor of literature whom everyone loathed in the role of first (unlamented) corpse, and a nice ensemble cast of character who range from appealing and unjustly accused to fun-to-hate.
It's a cozy, so the actual violence isn't terribly graphic (there are descriptions of blood, but they're fleeting) and the language is squeaky clean and there's a romance subplot, but it's not overpowering.
Four stars. Solidly readable for cozy fans. Publishing info for the second volume in the series isn't out yet, but the author is dependably regular in her output. This would make a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, and possibly a buddy read.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Schooled in Murder is book #1 in the Campus Sleuth Mystery series by Victoria Gilbert.
This was a great start to a new series. I was pulled in from the very beginning. There wasn’t a long buildup waiting for the action to start. I liked the college setting which was a nice change from the usual places in cozy mysteries. Having a mystery writer investigating was interesting . The descriptions of the setting made it easy for me to see it and feel like I was there. I really enjoyed the mystery and look forward to the next book.
Thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Schooled in Murder
A Campus Sleuth Mystery
by Victoria Gilbert
Genre: Mystery/Cozy Mystery/Academia
Pages: 272
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ISBN: 9781639109234
Pub Date: Jan 7, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a free e-copy of the book. All opinions are my own.
Schooled in Murder is the first book in the new Campus Sleuth Mystery series, and it’s a winner. The main character, mystery author and director of Clarion University’s writing center, Jennifer “Jenn” Dalton is a likeable character. She cares deeply for the students both working in the writing center and those visiting for help. That’s how she gets involved in solving the murder of a cantankerous professor. A student she knows is accused of the murder and Jenn investigates to clear the student’s name.
I like the slant of successful mystery author undertaking her own investigations. While seeking to solve the murder, she comes to several realizations about her characters in her books. It’s easier to put them into precarious positions than it is to place herself in tricky situations.
The novel is fast paced, with plenty of twists and turns to keep a reader guessing. I enjoyed reading Schooled in Murder, and I would read more in this series.
4/5 stars

Being a lover of cozy mysteries, this one seemed like a good one to start the year with, and I must say that I enjoyed it very much. Our protagonist Jenn finds the body of a professor at the university where she works and this leads her to investigate a bit since one of her students is accused. It is worth mentioning that our Jenn is a somewhat famous writer of the mystery genre and has that streak where she wants to know everything.
The story has a good pace, you uncover clues and clues that by the end I had my list of suspects and well, let's just say that as a detective I'm going to die of hunger. There was a twist that I didn't see coming, but it kept me on the edge of my seat and had me searching the pages of the book to see if I had missed anything.
This is the first time I've read this author, but I feel it won't be the last because I loved her way of telling these stories.

Schooled in Murder starts a new series that is connected to the Blue Ridge Library series by the author. There are cameos from Emily Moore, Richard Muir and Amy Muir, the heroine of the Blue Ridge Library series.
Jenn Dalton is the head of the writing center at Clarion University and an author of a mystery series. When a professor in the English department dies, Jenn can't believe that Mia, a student she has mentored, is involved. Tapping her mystery writing experience, Jenn puts on her sleuthing hat.
The reader is introduced to more about Clarion University and a new cast of characters.
This is a well-written mystery with a number of suspects. I look forward to seeing more of Jenn Dalton, Campus Sleuth.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the chance to be introduced to this new series.

Thank you Victoria Gilbert ( @victoriagilbertauthor ), Crooked Lane Books ( @crookedlanebooks ), and NetGalley ( @netgalley ) for allowing me to read Schooled in Murder early (out January 7, 2025).
Victoria Gilbert is a must read and this new series is no exception!
Writing center department head/mystery author Jenn Dalton finds herself entangled in a real life crime when she finds the body of a Clarion College professor. When a young co-ed is suspected, Jenn and friends begin to investigate to prove the girl’s innocence.
Schooled in Murder a spin off of The Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series, and it was fun to see a few of those characters mentioned briefly in this series as well.
#SchooledinMurder #NetGalley #VictoriaGilbert #CrookedLaneBooks

Jenn Dalton and a small group of friends get involved in trying to solve the crime of who killed a professor. Their main goal was to prove Mia, one of Jenn’s students, who had recently argued with the man, innocent of the crime. They discover several suspects, all with motive and opportunity, and Jenn finds herself in trouble several times. Jenn also finds herself reluctantly entering into a relationship with Zachary “Zach” Flynn, the campus psychologist.
A fun whodunit with murder, danger, twists, turns, secrets, adultery, and more!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Schooled in Murder is the first book in the new Campus Sleuth Mystery series by established mystery author Victoria Gilbert.
The series sleuth is Jennifer "Jen" Dalton, a 32-year-old mystery writer and the head of an on-campus university writing center in Virginia.
When a faculty member is murdered in the campus library, the evidence implicates one of the students Jen mentors. Jen believes the student is innocent and decides to investigate the crime with the help of a few colleagues.
I enjoyed this mystery. The sleuth was believable. Her background as a mystery author gave her the skills she needed to investigate and solve a mystery.
Jen also has three colleagues willing to help out. They are less quirky than some of the characters you see in some other cozies, but all of them are likable.
The clues are inserted in a way that allows the reader to solve the mystery along with the sleuth.
There is also a closed door romance subplot that was unexpected but not unwelcome. I was just happy to see a non-law-enforcement love interest. It was a refreshing change.
I would recommend this book to readers who like cozies, particularly the author's other mystery series (such as the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries).
Thanks to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.