‘The Best Corpse for the Job’ by Charlie Cochrane

 Published by Riptide Publishing,
24 November 2014.
ISBN: 978-1-62649-192-2 (Paperback) ISBN: 978-1-62649-157-1 (eBook)

Adam Matthews loves his job as a primary school teacher at Lindenshaw St. Crispins, but he is not enjoying his role as Teacher Governor when the Board is trying to select a new Headteacher, somebody dynamic who is capable of raising standards in a school that is foundering. The Board of Governors have already failed to find a suitable candidate in the first round of selections and now, in the second round, there are only two candidates after the third applicant pulled out because of a medical emergency. Adam's day gets a whole lot worse when one of the candidates is found strangled.

Detective Inspector Robin Bright has no desire to return to St. Crispins, the primary school where he was unhappy and bullied as a child. When he meets Adam things get even trickier, for the young men are attracted to each other, even though Robin knows he cannot risk his career by fraternising with a witness, who might possibly be a suspect.

The more the police probe, the more secrets they discover about the governors, staff at the school, the ill candidate and, of course, the victim, but it is impossible to tell what one person would kill to conceal, even when another murder follows the first one. As Adam and Robin grow closer, Adam discovers that helping the police with their enquiries could be even more dangerous than he thought.

This is an intriguing murder mystery, with an abundance of eccentric characters and an even larger number of red herrings. Adam and Robin are likeable characters and their relationship is skilfully portrayed. I very much hope this is the first in a new series. I enjoyed this book and would thoroughly recommend it.

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Reviewer: Carol Westron

Charlie Cochrane couldn't be trusted to do any of her jobs of choice—like managing a rugby team— so she writes. Her favourite genre is gay fiction, predominantly historical romances/mysteries.  A member of the Romantic Novelists’  Association, and International Thriller Writers Inc, Charlie's Cambridge Fellows Series, set in Edwardian England, was instrumental in her being named Author of the Year 2009 by the review site Speak Its Name.

http://www.charliecochrane.co.uk

Carol Westron is a successful short story writer and a Creative Writing teacher.  She is the moderator for the cosy/historical crime panel, The Deadly Dames.  Her crime novels are set both in contemporary and Victorian times.  The Terminal Velocity of Cats is the first in her Scene of Crimes novels, was published July 2013. Her second book About the Children was published in May 2014. . Carol also writes a regular column featuring authors of the ‘Golden Age’ for the Mystery People monthly e-zine.

www.carolwestron.com