Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC

New to this author, I am unable to comparatively review any previous writing by Rachel Sargeant. However, this novel itself was highly character driven and centered around a less than dynamic plot. For avid readers of the suspense genre, the pace of narrative did move a bit slow, however, the police procedural aspect was well developed. With so many things laid out early on in the story, it failed to deliver the anticipatory feel that many suspense readers crave. It was an okay read. 3 stars.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Killer Reads for an advance copy of The Good Teacher, a stand alone police procedural featuring DC Pippa Adams.

On Pippa’s first day in CID she is thrust into a murder/kidnap investigation. The eponymous good teacher, Carl Brock has been stabbed to death and when the police go to notify his wife Gaby of his death they find her bruised, battered and chained to a chair. She says that two men broke in, assaulted her and kidnapped her husband. The hunt for the killers is on and Pippa’s new boss has a prime suspect in mind.

The Good Teacher is a well plotted novel and the original premise is interesting but it just didn’t appeal to me particularly, or hold my attention. Chapter one is very inviting with its description of Gaby’s ordeal as she waits to be rescued and the discovery of Carl’s body but the rest of the novel doesn’t live up to that early promise as it is all surface plot with no depth. The resolution is unexpected, so a twist, but it comes out of nowhere and is a bit difficult to swallow. The narrative switches mostly between Pippa and someone called Benjamin Hedges who has no obvious link to the investigation although his role becomes clearer much later in the novel. By that time I couldn’t have cared less, fed up trying to work out where he fitted in and distracted from the main thrust by his innocuous activities.

Much of the novel relies on the character of Pippa Adams but as she’s hardly believable as a detective it takes a certain suspension of disbelief to get involved with her and even more to take her ability to solve the case seriously. Of course it helps her case that her team are more interested in scoring points off each other than actually investigating. Amateur hour.

I didn’t actively dislike The Good Teacher but I didn’t actively like it either so 3* and a heading of “it’s ok”.

A quick paced and addictive book.
The story is very fast paced and makes you want to keep reading.
I couldn’t warm to the main character but even so this was still a good read

If you are a seasoned psychological thriller reader then I think this title tells you everything you need to know about the story within these pages. When "Good" is in the title it's likely a diversion, no?

Yes.

Carl Brock is a well respected teacher in his community that dedicates his time after school to helping underprivileged students. Recently married to Gaby his life is the picture of perfection. So how did he find himself murdered in a ditch on the side of the road while his wife was beaten nearly to death and tied up in their home? You'll have to read it to find out.

The ending was rather lackluster and wasn't very surprising either.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A great tense read! Full of gripping moments and twists and turns.
The story was exciting to read and the characters were fleshed out well.

It's the very first day in CID for young Pippa Adams. Fresh out of three years in uniform she finds herself investigating the murder of a liked teacher and the kidnapping of the teacher's wife.
The first half of the book was very gripping and I was eager to read on. In the second half however the plot got scattered around and I found myself stalling and doing anything other than reading. I even guessed who the killer was only a couple of chapters in the book. And that usually never happens!
Pippa is a nice and caring character. She earns the nickname Agatha in an endearing way. I would have liked to know more about her. Her story is interesting, but the author leaves readers guessing. The other members of the CID are described as stereotypes. DS Matthews is the only other character who develops during the story.
This was a decent mystery. For the mystery fans out there.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for a free copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book, so much so I immediately bought another one by this author.
It's a nice quick easy read, just right for a cosy evening in, or an afternoon at the poolside on holiday.

Even the good have to die.
A beloved teacher is murdered and left in a ditch beside a country lane. His wife is found beaten and gagged in their suburban home.
Even the perfect family has something to hide.
When Pippa scratches the surface of the school community, she meets families who’ve learned a shattering lesson. And finally uncovers the good teacher’s darkest secrets…

The Good Teacher by Rachel Sargeant was one of the better crime detective stories that I've read. It has plenty of mystery and was character driven. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of The Good Teacher by Rachel Sargeant
Pub Date 14 Dec 2018

This novel is an odd mix of the modern, police procedural, but with hints of a cosier, more character driven mystery. It begins with the murder of a respected teacher, found stabbed in a ditch, his wife left, beaten, and tied up in her own kitchen. It is the first day out of uniform for Detective Constable Pippa Adams, when she is sent to the house of Mrs Gaby Block, wife of the victim, Carl Edward Brock.

Pippa is a wonderful character and it was her, without doubt, which made the book work for me. Far from being from the wrong side of the tracks, she tones down her upper class accent. Her parents are divorced and she joined the police after leaving a promising career in dance, but, that aside, she is delightfully normal. A little shy, and gauche, she is apt to say the wrong thing, blush at the wrong time and get things wrong. Nicknamed ‘Agatha’ by Sergeant, Mike Matthews, after an unguarded comment about Christie, she is aware that she is seen as the new girl and unsure of how to be taken seriously.

The mystery itself centres on the unlikely victim and why he was murdered, when so many speak highly of him. There is much about office politics – both at the school where Mr Brock worked, and at Penbury Police HQ, where Pippa has to negotiate her new job. If you like character driven mysteries, without much violence, then this may well appeal to you. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

Having read so many cop thillers i am afraid to say that this one is a bit lukewarm.
It is still a good read but only for readers of this genre.
I would like to thank the Netgalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for the ARC of this book in return for giving an honest review.

The Good Teacher by Rachel Sargeant is a quick and addictive book. The story is fast paced and keeps you wanting more. I was not a big fan of the main character, she was a bit all over the place but still enjoyed this read.

Pippa Adams is young cop, new to the area. The first case on her first day is a kidnapping and murder. The murder victim is a well loved teacher at the local school and his wife is found tied up in their home. as they get into their investigation they find that maybe this teacher was not so good after all. The ending will surprise you for sure!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased

This is a new author to me and it took me a while to get into the storyline but couldn't really get involved with the characters.

Overall it is a good quick read but I don't think I will read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Impulse Killer Reads for giving me the opportunity to read this.

I have read a book by this author before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I did enjoy it, it was suspenseful and it pulled me in from the start. Some of the lingo used had me going, what?? So that was a little hard to work through, keep going, you will enjoy it.

Meh.

This is an uneven little thriller that tries very hard to be different.

The mystery of our teacher is marred by the fact that we never, ever believe anything good about him. As a result, we don’t really care who killed him.

Our main character is a rather unbelievable cop-slash-pretty blonde-slash-dancer-slash-I donn’t know what. She just kind of is… Even when she has these observations or revelations that can turn a case on its ear, the reader is left feeling that she isn’t too bright and she just stumbled into the truth. (I will say the running Agath joke is cute.)

In the end, the book is okay. I might try the author again in the future, but I don’t know that I’ll hope for all that much.


*ARC Provided by Net Galley

The Good Teacher by author Rachel Sargeant is a fun, school setting thriller with a few good twists! The characters were considered greatly in writing this book and the plot runs along them smoothly!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of The Good Teacher in exchange for an honest review.

They seemed to have the perfect life, yet the well-respected teacher has been found dead in a ditch and his wife beaten in their simple family home. Pippa Adams is a newly minted detective and in order to solve this crime, she’s going to have to dig beneath the veneer of a school, a family and a community. A perfect example of still waters run deep, this story highlights the fact that crime doesn’t only occur in the darker corners of our communities

Did enjoy this - quite a quick read but a little uncertain about the main character, who seems rather inaccessible, possibly due to lots of 'hints' about her past experiences - sets it up for more from this team. Good story with a suitably interesting unveiling at the end.

I received an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
Fairly tepid police procedural plots along. Nothing particularly special but not awful. But for cop thriller fans only

This was a very good suspense book it had me quessing all the way to the end thank you net galley and the publisher for letting me read this

This was a pretty good cop thriller. It kept me guessing till the end. Pippa, the main protagonist leaves her dream of being a dancer to become a cop. She gets her big break when she is assigned the murder of a well liked teacher. The author does a good job in unraveling the sequence of events through witness interviews and police protocol. Although I thought this was a bit heavy at times and must admit I skipped some of it to get to the revealing parts.
All in all I enjoyed the novel and it's many surprises.
Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.