Thank you Hera Books, A A Chaudhuri and Netgalley for the eArc of The School Gates.

I've read a few of A A Chaudhuri books and this was a little different from her other books but equally as good. Combining Police Protocol with mystery and a few psychological twists, The School Gates becomes a great paced read. Our MFC, or at least the person the narrative surrounds, Lola and Luca gets murdered relatively early in the story. So we are left, putting together what happened and why, even though she was liked, what happened. As our Investigator John Banner, starts piecing things together, we get a very clever storyline, combining with thew dangers of trusting the wrong people and the internet. I feel that this story carries a cautionary ( even though it's fictitious ) tale as the narrative feels believable and relevant for todays world. A great, quick, addictive read.

4.75 for story graph. 5 for Netgalley

This is a story filled with complex characters and lies and twists galore. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley for an early ARC in return for an honest review

The School Gates by A Choudhari is a police procedural with an extraordinary look at the victim’s last few weeks, interspersed amongst the investigative chapters. Elizabeth had been assaulted while at college. It nearly broke her. She broke off her relationship with Sean as she was terrified to tell him what had happened. Instead of seeing a counselor, she relied upon a person named Tracy who was part of a mental health chat online. Tracy gave good advice. She and her parents moved after the baby was born: Tracy’s advice. She changed her name to Lola: Tracy’s advice. She was frightened; the rapist had threatened her and her parents. Years later she enrolled Luca in school and became friendly with parents there. These women were not nice. It was all so normal and yet, all so frightening. Detective Inspector John Banner caught the case after Lola was murdered and he slowly put together a case using old fashioned police work and communication. It seemed to move so slowly but in reality it only took a week or so.

Lola was a beautiful young woman who had been manipulated in the worst possible ways. She loved her son and only wanted the best for him. She was too trusting while at the same time she trusted no one. A truly good character, well-written and sympathetic. Banner was a dedicated police officer who wanted nothing more than to root out evil-doers. He took it a step at a time, gathering evidence that painted a picture, until the last stroke was in place. This was a good mystery, kept me on my toes. It was full of complicated characters and interesting scenarios and plenty of misdirection. It looked at marriage at its worst, and at its best. The mystery was complicated and so very sad, in the end. A life taken for no reason, as they often are. This was a good read.

I was invited to read The School Gates by Hera Books. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #HeraBooks #AAChoudhari #TheSchoolGates

“It was best that she started fresh, somewhere new, where she was no longer Elisabeth Mosley.
From now on, she was Lola Martinez.”

Lola, a single mom to Luca, Moved to Kingston town to start fresh, putting her past behind. She tries to befriend some yummy mummies at the school gates of Lucas's school. Despite this, she gets involved in politics with this new circle, making more enemies than friends.

And on Xmas dinner night, she is brutally murdered, leaving Luca parentless.

“Who could be behind the murder of an innocent single mother, yummy mummies, or the last she is running from? “

I was on cloud 9 when my Netgalley request got accepted. OMG, what a brilliant read it is.

The main protagonist, Lola, the dead woman, narrates the story and helps DI John Banner solve the mystery.

I love the yummy mummies politics at the school gates. Every one of them is water-neck-deep in dark secrets.

The story has been told at the proper pace, with twists waiting at every Nook and corner.

Whenever you think you know where the story is going, but BAM, a twist takes you by surprise. I was flabbergasted at the twist 😮.

The author knows very well how to play with the mind of a thriller reader. In no way could I have figured it out.

Truly unpredictable masterpiece

A.A. Chaudhuri delivers a gripping and emotionally charged thriller in The School Gates, a novel that begins with tragedy and unravels into a tightly woven web of secrets, lies, and betrayal. The loss of a mother under senseless circumstances sets the stage for a story that refuses to let up, drawing readers deeper with every twist. Chaudhuri masterfully builds suspense, layering revelations in a way that keeps the tension high and the outcome uncertain. With its sharp pacing and psychological depth, The School Gates stands out as a compelling thriller that lingers long after the final page.

"First comes gossip... then comes revenge."

Single mom Lola Martinez feels like the other school moms are just on another level from her and she could never fit in. Starting over from her rocky past has been hard but her son Luca needs a better life. Upon moving to the new neighborhood, she quickly sees the hierarchy at the school gates when dropping Luca off. She doesn't have anything in common with these women so imagine her surprise when Lola is invited into the slot group. Unfortunately, Lola gets involved in the petty politics of the yummy mummies and for as many friends that she's making, she's also gaining enemies. Then when Lola is found brutally murdered and the police start to investigate it becomes clear that not only are the school moms hiding something, but Lola herself has her fair share of dark secrets.

This was such a twisty and compelling read! With a completely believable plot and tons of domestic suspense, this book had me on the edge of my seat! The pacing was perfect, with a steady buildup and a trail of revelations dropped throughout the narrative, this book was so easy to get sucked into. I like how the timeline shifted allowing the reader to put pieces of the puzzle together. I really enjoyed the originality of having the protagonist murdered in the beginning and then having the story go back to show how things ended up at that point. Overall I would definitely recommend for fans of twisty and suspenseful domestic thrillers!

Thank you to NetGalley, A.A. Chaudhuri, and Hera Books for this ARC!! Publication date was June 5th 2025.

The School Gates by A. A. Chaudhuri

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A fantastic read with a jaw dropping twist! I enjoyed this quick paced thriller from start to finish.

Devoted single mum Lola Martinez cannot help but be nervous amongst all the yummy-mummies in the primary school playground on her son Luca's first day in Reception at St Xavier's, in leafy Kingston-upon-Thames. Lola is worried she will never fit in with these confident, affluent women, so she is delighted when she finds herself being invited to join the most desirable clique of them all.


But being part of this inner circle soon has Lola out of her depth. Navigating the complex rules of playground politics while keeping the truth about her past hidden from their prying eyes is a nightmare. Unguarded moments result in secrets being spilled, and as tongues begin to wag, friends become enemies... 


When Lola is brutally murdered after events turn ugly at the class Christmas party, it falls to DI Banner to discover if one of these vengeful mums has it within them to be a murderer.


This twisty new thriller from A.A. Chaudhuri sees her returning to the format of slick ensemble piece, that plays out in a very familiar setting - the clique-riven, rumour-mill-fuelled crowd that rocks up to the primary school gates.


Thruming with a delicious Mean Girls vibe, Chaudhuri inserts anxious single mum Lola into a group of seriously complicated women, and tells the story of her demise, flipping back and forth between the times before and after her murder. Lola's voice (through her first person narrative, and the transcripts of conversations she has in an on-line forum with a mysterious character called 'Tracy') blends with alternative accounts of events from multiple perspectives, and vivid flashbacks to moments where shocking secrets are revealed. 


The plot thickens with parallel threads around Lola's murder, all manner of domestic dramas, and the actions of a rapist stalking Britain's college campuses. Luckily, you have canny DI Banner (truly a rose amongst entitled thorns) to help you solve this many-layered mystery. Banner is adept at feeling out the cracks and cover-ups in the testimonies of the other mums and their partners... and blowing their lies wide open.


As usual with a Chaudhuri thriller, she has a ball plumbing the psychological depths of her characters, especially when it comes to seething jealousy, creepy obsession, and back-stabbing betrayal. She misleads and misdirects with skill, and then hits you broadside with an orgy of twists, and you will love every single second. She explores weighty themes along the way too, delving into the way the secrets we keep shape our lives, make us vulnerable to the manipulation of others, and can feed a desire to manipulate in turn.


A page-turner to be consumed in a single tasty bite!

Lola Martinez is a single mother of Luca, and they both move to London to start afresh. Lola meets other mums at the school gates, and she tries really hard to fit in. The other mothers are glamorous, well put together, and lead rich lifestyles.

However, Lola is much younger than them, and some of them resent her for it. When she attends a Christmas party, she doesn’t return. Her body is found the next day, with DI John Banner investigating the case.

What a twisty read!

I loved how it was written from the point of view of the lead investigator, DI John Banner, with some of the chapters telling the story of what happened to Lola.

It was clear to me that Lola was running away from something or someone. She was trying to protect her son, and she’d lie to achieve it, something that I could understand, as she loved her son deeply.

I was saddened at how her life abruptly came to an end.

The women at the school gates, particularly Bianca and Clarissa, were just awful. I would never want to associate myself with such a clique, and I have no idea what compelled Lola to do so. I suppose she was trying to ensure her son would have friends by befriending their despicable mothers.

Towards the end, there is a twist upon twist! Totally unexpected, which I loved.

I love A.A. Chaudhuri’s novels, and this one didn’t disappoint. I definitely recommend this book.

Thanks to Hera for approving my NetGalley request to read and review this title.

When Lola leaves a late-night gathering and decides to cut through the park, she has no idea it's the last walk she’ll ever take.

While the pacing occasionally drags in the early chapters — this book plays the long game. As detectives dig into the case, peeling back the final months of Lola’s life, each discovery adds a new layer of tension. Just when I thought I'd figured it out, another secret cracked open.

Unexpected twists and mysterious, a great read for A. A. Chaudhuri fans.

From the minute I picked up this book, I couldn’t put it down. I loved how the book was in present and past sections so you could really get a good background on the main characters. This is my first book by the other and I really enjoyed it..

I really liked the promise of the blurb for this book but it failed to deliver for me, sadly. I failed to empathise with Lori and I lost interest in the outcome to the story. The plot was complex, it just rambled on for too long, the ending was disappointing and there was little suspense to keep my interest. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

This was a very intense read, especially as everything amped up and it went from gossip to revenge with twists and red herrings that kept me invested.

This is a very original concept, not least because the story is in part narrated by Lola, who we know very early on, is murdered. Narrated from multiple points of view, this is a school gates mystery, where all the characters have secrets, and few are likeable. As the book progresses, there are twists and turns aplenty and how and why the characters are connected are slowly revealed This a suspenseful book with some big twists towards the end.

Thank you to A A Chaudhuri, Hera Books and Netgalley for my advance copy.

Thank you to net galley, the author and publishing house for gifting me the opportunity to read this book.

What a fantastic book! It was super well written, author did an amazing job at giving the characters perspective and flipping the narrative back and forth.
Right from the beginning I was hooked, and had to read more. I stayed up way too late to read this as I could not put it down. The plot was incredible. I did not see the ending coming at all, what a great twist.

Anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers pick this up- it’s a hard 10 in my book.

Elizabeth Mosley changed her name to Lola Martinez, terrified that the man who had once attacked her—and threatened her family—might one day come after her. She had every reason to hide. But secrets don’t stay buried forever.

At the school’s Christmas party for parents, things are tense. None of the mums are talking to Lola, and she has no idea why. Could it be they’ve somehow discovered her past? Even her best friend, Simone, couldn’t make it—stuck at home without a babysitter. The truth is, the other mums had never truly accepted Lola since her son Luca started at the school the previous year.

When they all get up to dance, leaving Lola sitting alone, she’s had enough. Grabbing her things, she leaves the party. But it’s the middle of December, and taxis are impossible to find. She texts Simone to say she should never have gone, then begins the long walk home by the river. That’s when someone attacks her… and everything goes black.

What was Lola hiding? Who would want her dead? Could it be the man who threatened her all those years ago? Could Luca’s father have tracked her down? Or was it someone from the mum group—Bitchy Bianca, Clarissa, Joy, or Dee? And why?

The story unfolds through Lola’s eyes from December 2023, then rewinds to over a year earlier, when she first met the school mums. From there, it builds toward the night of the party. We also hear from DI John Banner, the detective investigating the case, and later from other key characters.

This author always knows how to keep you hooked. Just when you think you’ve figured everything out, she throws in a final twist that leaves your mouth hanging open—you never saw it coming. I’ll admit, I even shed a tear at the end.

If you’ve ever been a mum navigating the school gates, you might recognize the kind of clique this story portrays. I certainly did. No matter how hard I tried, I could never quite break in. Maybe they’d known each other since nursery—while I was the outsider who’d moved in.

The plot is entirely believable. I loved how the author incorporated a chat room and text messages into the story. And as it turns out, none of these mums are as innocent as they pretend to be. They all have secrets—secrets that, if revealed, could unravel their lives.

Another brilliantly plotted and emotionally gripping read from a master of domestic suspense.
Thank you to @HeraBooks and #netgalley for an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own and haven’t been influenced in any way.
#TheSchoolGates #Netgalley

This book pulls the reader in on the first page. Lola is a young single mom and. is nervous about her circumstances as her young son is about to start school. but is that all she is nervous about. The story goes between the present and the past as the details of her son's birth are recounted for the reader. Lola was raped in college and fears for her and her family's safety so much so she changes her name and moves far away to keep them hidden. At the school gate, she meets a group of parents who accept her into their circle. At first, she is thrilled but not everyone is who they seem and everyone has secrets that they are dying to keep. When Lola is murdered after a school function, there is no shortage of suspects as the police work feverishly to unravel Lola's complicated life. You will not see the shocking ending coming as the you stay up late to find out who murdered Lola.

Goodness that was an interesting read. I was pretty suspicious of Simone and wow she has some serious stockholm syndrome type thing about her, but over all I felt so sorry for Lola for being so young and having to make such a tough decision and then being lead on essentially by good old "Tracy" (I did suspect something was up when she kept referring to the person she trusts the most, like man that person is probably someone you shouldn't trust).

I was really happy at the ending though because even though losing a mom is rough, there was a silver lining for Luca.

The School Gates by A A Chaudhuri is a compelling, twisty tale from beginning to end. Once I started, I couldn't put it down,

Lola is a new arrival at the gates when her young son Luca starts at a new school. The other parents are immediately intrigued by the new mum in their midst, particularly when they learn that Luca's father is not in the picture. Becoming absorbed into the closely-knit group, Lola finds herself feeling a little out of place. When she is brutally murdered one night following a Christmas party, all of her deepest secrets will be revealed.

I flew through these pages, desperate to uncover the truth of Lola's past. I especially enjoyed how invested the lead investigator became in solving the murder having, like Lola, a young son of his own. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hera Books for an ARC.

The School Gates by AA Chadhuri is full of secrets and mystery. The plot builds nicely, and there are plenty of characters to get to know and hate. A good read.