Lesson Plan for Murder

Not bad for a girl book (sic). Nice flow and never boring. Maybe too much babble for my taste, but it is amusing. The characters are interesting and the plot is very good. Enjoyable!

What an interesting premise for a mystery. A teacher is murdered, leaving coded lesson plans behind. There are twists and turns as infidelity and blackmail are exposed. Soon the murderer attempts to strike again with poison. Will our main character Liz be the next victim? This is neither a cozy mystery nor a suspense. It falls somewhere in between. I do wish the characters had been more relatable, but perhaps that is because I am a big cozy mystery fan.

Lesson Plan for Murder is a page turner mystery told from the point of view of a snarky, wise-cracking English teacher. One of Liz Hopewell's colleagues accuses her of stealing an expensive desk chair then promptly turns up dead. The police believe that the death is a suicide, but Liz knows the woman would never kill herself without leaving behind a well written note--they're English teachers after all.

These events send Liz on a quest to solve Marcia Deaver's murder in a cozy that's filled with deftly skewed depictions of all the usual denizens of a modern American high school: teachers, administrators, nurses, secretaries, students, custodians, parents, and even the librarian. Liz's takes on colleagues and the bureaucracy that is high school are apt and dead on and add to the fun of watching her as she unravels a good whodunit that doesn't give much away until the end of the book.

As a high school librarian and a former English teacher, I found myself identifying with and rooting for Liz. Like all cozy heroines, she takes some stupid chances from time to time and puts herself and her family in the murderer's crosshairs. But, if you're willing to go along for this free-wheeling ride, Lesson Plan for Murder is a smart, entertaining read. I'm hooked and will be looking for book two in the author Lori Robbins' Master Class Mysteries.

Full Disclosure--Net Gallery and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This book turned out to be surprisingly good! I found it a very enjoyable and creative mystery. The premise of a
teacher being murdered, leaving coded lesson plans behind sounded very interesting and I was not wrong. We need this kind of 'touch of creativity' in mystery/thrillers. I also loved the twists, the characters and the suspense build.
It was a very solid mystery read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Definitely recommended.

Lesson Plan for Murder by Lori Robbins is an enjoyable mystery. The main character had a distinctive voice. She spoke like an English teacher. The interactions between characters were believable, and it was fun to watch the mystery unfold.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A cosy mystery with lots of red herring and certainly a page turner. It certainly is a book that keeps one interested and guessing to the end, although there are sparks of dawning in places - the ending comes as a bit of a surprise.

She is a bit of a klutz in her attempt at being an amateur sleuth, but she is also unrelenting even with her handicap of fears. Liz was slowly working her way in becoming a pest to her fellow teachers and also the murderer. An interesting and intriguing with lots of dramatic episodes, making this a fun read.

Marcia Deaver is dead on the floor of her classroom at Valerian Hills High School. Nobody liked her - and most of them were glad to see her go and could have committed the crime. Elizabeth Hopewell was the unlucky colleague to find her body. It was her scream that bought the rest of the faculty, staff, and police.

Liz is as concerned as clearing her name as she is in finding the culprit. At that same time she seemed intent on destroying her marriage. The spends a great deal of time following Liz as she follows clues and develops a crush on one of the detectives working the case.

The author has presented a solid mystery. It comes across as a bit darker than the normal cozy mystery - as we begin to wonder about the state of the protagonist's marriage. But all ends well, the guilty party (all of them) is found and the marriage survives.

This reader found the book just a bit boring - taking a little over a week to read.

1. Would I recommend it - “Yes, as a good fall read.”
2. Do I want to read more from this author - “Definitely, YES!”
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

I do love a new mystery/detective series and this looks like a brilliant start.

Set in a public school with new amateur detective, Liz Hopewell.

I like the author descriptions which make this a fun, snappy mystery with twists to keep the reader guessing.

I look forward to more mysteries with Liz Hopewell.

Very good mystery with all sorts of unusual complications! This book was definitely written by a real high school English , which is evident not only by the literary references, but also by the knowledge of personalities and problems encountered! The characters are quite believable and interact reaistically! Outstanding cozy mystery!!

I really enjoyed this book. Our sleuth, Liz Hopewell finds one of her fellow high school english teachers dead in her classroom. Marcia Deaver was at all liked by her fellow teachers, but murder seemed a bit extreme. Despite warnings from the detectives on the case, Liz pursues finding the murderer. Laugh out loud funny at times, there was a real authenticity with the characters. I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Thanks to netgalley for a free copy of this book.

Teacher and, now sometime, amateur sleuth, Liz Hopewell finds herself with a mystery to solve involving a dead body, a classroom and a coded lesson plan. Enjoyable cosy with an edge. Well written, entertaining escapism. Will most definitely be looking out for more from this author. Recommended.

I really enjoyed the mystery in this story and the characters reminded me of many of my high school teachers and friends who are in the education world. The humor was a delightful surprise and came off naturally. I am looking forward to the next book in this series. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

This book drew me in by the crispness of the language that Liz uses. She seems to be a really good English teacher. I loved her interactions with other characters. She is really a riot.

This book was a fun read. It had dark moments, but it didn't make you feel heavy and sad. It was very entertaining. I related to the overworked, tired, and pulled in all directions of motherhood, on top of a murder! A murder! I recommend this book as a good mystery that is quick and easy to read.

I received Lesson Plan for Murder as an ARC from NetGalley. This book was an enjoyable cozy mystery featuring English teacher, Liz Hopewell. This book is the first book in the Master Class series. Liz's finds her coworker dead in her classroom & takes it upon herself to help the police solve the murder. This book combined humor and mystery in a fun way and there is a great cast of characters. I look forward to reading other books in this series.

This is book one in the debut series "Master Class Mystery Series". I enjoyed this book and found the sleuth well crafted and had a wonderful sense of whodoneit throughout. I loved how the author captured the world of teaching for the reader and infused humor throughout. The writing is very smart and absorbing to the reader. I found this a well crafted mystery with enjoyable charcters and a realistic outlook on teaching.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the ARC for review. My opinions are my personal review.

We are introduced to our protagonist teacher Liz Hopewell who is married and works as a teacher . When a fellow teacher is murdered in the classroom everyone can agree on staff she was indeed the most disliked. Liz decides to investigate and as clues abound she digs deeply into the mystery of her death. Another death occurs and Liz is asked by her husband to step aside but finds herself in to deep to stop her investigation.

I enjoyed the very clever literary references throughout this book. The humor element is enjoyable as is learning more about the world of a English teacher . .I look forward to the next in series. Well Done to the author.

Lesson Plan for Murder by Lori Robbins is an extremely well written mystery.

When little liked English teacher is found dead on the floor of her classroom and is discovered by the lead protagonist and fellow teacher, Liz Hopewell, things get tricky in Valerian Hills High School. Not because she is grieving but because it turns out the teacher was poisoned. It also means that one of Liz's colleagues is a murderer.

Very captivating story that tells so much about life of educators, shows them for what they are.

I have never met a more reluctant and realistic amateur sleuth, with all her good and bad characteristics. An ingenious plot that revolves around lesson plan, which I though was very clever.

The author paints a life-like picture of a long marriage stuck in a rut, and everything that goes on behind the closed door.
Captivating and intelligent mystery.

Liz is a mother to two kids, a wife, runs a household, an English teacher and now, a sleuth. On the first day of the new term, her colleague Martha returns to school slim, chique and vicious as ever. Shortly thereafter she is found dead in her room by none other than Liz, who wanted to sneak a peek at her coveted lesson plans.

Soon, Liz takes on Martha’s old classes, drama course and many other responsibilities. But in this suburban school nothing is as it seems, and the usually shy Liz decides to mingle with the other teachers for once in order to find out who killed Martha. Everyone is a suspect, including the police men who come to investigate the murder. Soon, the killer attempts to murder someone else close to Liz, and Liz realizes that her pursuit of the killer has put not only herself, but also her family in danger. Hilarious, but also dangerous situations ensue and I loved that Liz was a bit messy. I very much enjoyed this whodunnit. I also enjoyed that the setting of the novel was mostly the school and that the little rivalries between staff members and annoying parents and petulant students were described with hilarious honesty.

Good characters. Unique story line. I enjoyed this book very much. Although at times it did seem to go on and on. I would recommend and would read this author again.

I saw this book on my auto approved list on NetGalley a little before it got archived and I am glad I jumped at the chance to read it. The cover does not lend itself to an accurate assessment of the quality of the story narration was and I finished the entire book in almost one complete sitting while enjoying every minute of it.

The only reason (I need to mention this upfront in case you look at the rating in the tag and wonder at the difference between the gushing and the post) that this book was not a five-star read was that I was not satisfied with the relationship between the leading lady and her husband. There was no affirmative reasons provided about what we are supposed to think of him and I dislike feeling that lost, this would not be a problem for most people I am sure.

Moving on to the story itself, Liz Hopewell is an English teacher, a loner for the most part. She is one of those absolutely normal people with a slightly above average amount of curiosity. When the least liked (which is saying something since no one in this small high school seems to like one another) teacher in the English staff is found mysteriously dead, there is an investigation. Liz feels personally vested since she feels like the deceased has left a set of clues that only she can decipher. Her husband dissuades her but her (self-centered) sister eggs her on. She is in more danger than she can imagine and as she bumbles her way through an amateur investigation, things fall into place with more than a little help from chance an interesting detective.There are a few literary references, just the right amount to give the feel  for it and not sound too highbrow.

To those who are fans of this genre, this is a must read, to others it will still be a treat(Did I mention it was quite subtly humorous as well?). I think it's the start to a series and if that is the case, I am looking forward to the next one.

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This is the first book in a new series, A Master Class Mystery, that has English teacher Liz Hopewell finding fellow teacher Marcia dead in her classroom on the first day of school. Police thinks it's an accidental overdose or a suicide but Liz is sure it's murder. Finding coded messages in Marcia's lesson plans was pretty brilliant. I liked the story as I'm a retired educator and get all the subtle digs. Set in a large high school in New York it is pretty realistic and a good murder cozy. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Lesson Plan for Murder was a good book, definitely worth a read. I enjoyed the twists in the book and I did enjoy Liz as a character. I do feel it was a little slow in places and then the ending felt a bit rushed when it all came together but overall I did enjoy reading it.

When Liz Hopewell finds the body of one of her colleagues dead in her classroom she believes the death is anything but natural. Liz finds some coded lesson plans which she believes holds clues of why her colleague is dead. When another colleague is poisoned Liz realizes she may be next. Overall this is a good book. Most of the characters are likable and realistic. The premise of the book is unique and interesting.

I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced by anyone.

This was a really great read and such a great take on a crime novel, The characters were totally believable, the plot was entertaining and the writing was really good. I was hooked and couldn't wait to discover who was behind they mysterious poisonings. The pedantic habits of overly organised teachers was funny and I loved how Liz jumped immediately to the conclusion that Marcia certainly did not die by her own hand. The references to English literature are also very insightful and enjoyable. This is truly an entertaining read, one that I highly recommend. I give it 4 stars!!!

Amei o mistério do livro, da construção da tensão, porém devo admitir que o inglês do livro não é tão básico, então me vi tendo que pesquisar algumas palavras, o que é ótimo porque além de estar me entretendo, aprendi e melhorei o inglês.