‘The Death Lesson’ by Sarah Ward

Published by Canelo,
2 October 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-83598-145-) (PB)

I’ve read several of Sarah’s novels and enjoyed them all, and so far this is the one I’ve liked the most. I consumed The Death Lesson in about three days, a record for me given my long working hours.

For a start, I enjoyed the setting – both the immediate one of a girls’ select boarding school and the general environs of West Wales, an area I know a little and like a lot – and this is always a plus.

I’ve long had a fascination for stories set in girls’ boarding schools; not only the books I was brought up on such as St Clare’s, Malory Towers and the Chalet School, but also older novels my mum introduced me to by Angela Brazil, Dorita Fairlie Bruce and so on. So, The Death Lesson was one I wanted to read. The novel actually delivered in an unexpected way; the zesty interaction I looked for between the pupils and the staff was certainly there, but it was in a different arena that the novel excelled. I don’t want to provide spoilers so won’t say too much, but it was another all-female group, this time from the past, that was the key to the novel – a group with a quasi-religious, semi-mystical agenda that had me well and truly hooked.

The first chapter follows Pippa, a young, insecure woman taking up a post as a maths teacher at Penbryn Hall, the prestigious boarding school, and what happens to her there. This sets up the framework for the novel, with Mallory Dawson – a civilian investigator working for the Dyfed Powys police – brushing off her dusty maths degree to go undercover as a teacher at Penbryn Hall. Her boss, DI Harri Evans in CID with whom Mallory is in a wobbly personal relationship, follows another line of investigation and is tracking down the members of a punitive cult that he came across some years previously. The way the novel moves between Mallory in the claustrophobic environment of the school and Harri trying to break down firmly closed doors to the past in Ceredigion, keeps the pages turning and anticipation growing.

Part of the excitement of the novel is sparked by Mallory’s increased isolation at the school and the danger posed to her by person or persons unknown, and part of it by trying to match up the little glimpses we’re given into the past with the women surrounding Mallory at the school. While Mallory gained my sympathy, and was an attractive and determined protagonist, other characters were just as interesting: the headmistress Lowri; one of the girls, Livvy; and the very scary Angharad of the sisterhood. Every page was a fresh delight.

The ending was suitably dramatic and satisfying and I was sorry to say goodbye to the scenario and the cast of characters, including our heroine. So, while in some ways I did revisit Mal(l)ory Towers, the novel’s darker elements recalled another, very different joy from my childhood: The Owl Service by Alan Garner. If you read The Death Lesson you’ll see what I mean, and reading it is very much recommended.
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Reviewer: Dea Parkin

Sarah Ward is the author of four DC Childs novels set in the Derbyshire Peak District where she lives. She is also writes gothic historical thrillers as Rhiannon Ward. The Birthday Girl, is the first book in her new Welsh based series, published 6th April 2023. She has also written Doctor Who audio dramas. Sarah is on Board of the Crime Writers Association and Friends of Buxton Festival, is a member of Crime Cymru, and a Royal Literary Fund fellow at Sheffield University.  

www.crimepieces.com  

Dea Parkin is Editor-in-chief at editorial consultancy Fiction Feedback, sponsor of the Emerging Author Dagger. She’s also Competitions Coordinator at the Crime Writers’ Association. She writes short stories, poetry, award-winning non-fiction and occasionally re-engages with The Novel. When she isn't editing or writing, you can find her at crime-writing festivals or giving her all on the tennis court. Usually, reading several books at a time, she thrives on crime fiction, history, and novels with a mystical edge. She is engaged in a continual struggle to find space for her books and time for her friends.