This book made me think of Big Little Lies when it first started as the death happened at a school event for parents but that was where the similarities ended. The story deals with amateur sleuths that are trying to solve the case on their own to clear the name of a friend. The book also introduces the character of Inspector Ramsay who is supposed to make an appearance in future books. I would be interested in reading the next book in this series to see how this character develops.

Most of Ann Cleeves books feature a strong protagonist around which the story converges. In “A Lesson in Dying” Inspector Ramsay sits in the rear seat. The community become the the driving force in solving its hidden mysteries and the ultimate murder. The weakness in the story is actually Inspector Ramsay and his handwringing and fears of not being the best, not doing the job, not finding the culprit. Ah well, the townsfolk are on it and as they bob and weave and stumble and fall and shake their fists at the sky - all in all it is a good mystery if a bit convoluted.

I have read Ann Cleeves for years and have always taken away something from each of her books. While this was not my favorite - her not my favorite is miles ahead of so many other authors’ best effort. Thanks to Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press for a copy.

As a fan of the Vera and Shetland TV adaptations, I found Ann Cleeves’s A Lesson in Dying—the first Inspector Ramsay mystery—a perfectly moody October whodunit. When the headmaster turns up dead in the school gym, Inspector Ramsay uncovers the village’s buried secrets.

Read This If You Like:
• Small-town murder mysteries with slow-burn pacing
• Autumnal reads with moody October vibes, perfect for Halloween season
• Atmospheric village and school scenes, plenty of slow-burn buried secrets but more classic whodunit than campus thriller
• Satisfying twists that keep you guessing
• Themes of justice vs. revenge and the burden of hidden secrets
• Clear, vivid writing and crisp dialogue
• British mysteries in the style of Midsomer Murders

My Rating: 3.75 Stars

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the eARC. A Lesson in Dying releases on March 25, 2025.

Despite being a fan of Anne Cleeves’ mysteries like the Stanhope, Shetland, and Venn series, A Lesson in Dying fell short. While Cleeves excels at weaving intricate plots and bringing complex characters to life in her other works, this entry feels underwhelming by comparison. The narrative lacked depth and magnetism, coming across as more of a cozy mystery rather than a police procedural.

I only made it 30 percent, and possibly it could get better, but I didn’t have the attention span to see if that happened.

This was a short read! Quick but not very good.
I was not the intended audience for this book. Might be for someone else

While Cleeves has been writing for decades, I think this is the first book I've read by her. This mystery was published in 1990 and is the first in the Inspector Ramsay series. Always available in England, it has now been published in the U.S. I like the British flavor of extensive development of characters and the setting descriptions, like the fog.

I was a bit surprised that Inspector Ramsay has a somewhat minor role in the book. He is convinced he has the murderer right away and does not pursue any other suspects. It is not until Jack gets involved that we see how many possible suspects there are. I would not have thought this novel would lead to a series featuring Ramsay. He seemed rather inept to me.

I do like Cleeves' writing style. Having grown up on Agatha Christie, I felt right at home reading this mystery.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Another fantastic series from Ann Cleeves. As the writer draws one in her other three series she has done the same here. Inspector Ramsey follows along brilliantly of Vera, Shetland, and Matthew Venn. Ann Cleeves style of writing brings you to a place where you feel like one of the characters in the story. Highly recommend the book and all of her other series.

I love Ann Cleeves's style of writing. And usually I love her protagonists. However, with The Lesson In Dying, I didn't click with the switching POVs and the groundskeeper's reasoning for searching for the killer. Still, it was an enjoyable mystery, but it didn't have that strong character voice that kept the story grounded. I give this book 3.5/5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for allowing me to read and review A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves.

A Lesson in Dying is the first book of the Inspector Ramsey series. It is being rereleased after being originally published in the 1990’s. I’m a fan of Cleeves’s others series, so I was excited to read this, and was not disappointed.
The story follows the investigation of the murder of a school headmaster, taking place in Northumberland. The cast of characters is lengthy, and full of character, and it took a bit for me to keep everyone straight, but it worked out!
Besides Inspector Ramsey, the village’s own self-appointed detectives, father and daughter Jack Robson and Patty lead the way to find out what happened to the headmaster. Quite a few twists and turns makes this another great Cleeves mystery!
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy. This is an honest review.

A very good mystery. When a much-hated headmaster is murdered, Ramsay is sure that it is the man's wife. The school caretaker is sure she didn't. So, the caretaker and his daughter take it upon themselves to investigate. Ramsay is sure that they will be of no help in the investigation. Then another man is found dead. They live in a small village and there are only so many suspects. Is it an outsider? Ramsay is getting a lot grief over his methods when the first victim's wife commits suicide while in custody. Now he is pulling out all the stops and decides to work with the caretake and his daughter to find the killer. At least the villagers will talk to them. It seems as if the village is full of people who are unsatisfied with their lives and there are so many secrets. Can they find the killer before anyone else is murdered?

I enjoyed starting this series at the beginning with this first book and getting to know a new detective, Inspector Ramsey, who is refreshingly flawed but still likeable and needs to improve his sleuthing skills. Believing Ramsey has arrested the wrong person, the secondary cast is active in helping to unravel the mystery. Some stories portray detectives as almost immortal in their abilities to always be right, and I'm glad this one didn't do that.

A Lesson in Dying by Ann Cleeves is an Inspector Ramsey mystery, the first of the series. It is the night of the school’s Halloween Gala, planned primarily for adults. Everyone was surprised that Headmaster Medburn agreed. The small village of Heppleburn in Northumberland had grown since Patty was a child. The school had grown as well but Medburn kept it and everyone involved with it under his thumb. He was not a pleasant man. His wife was a nurse and while not full of personality, no one could figure out why she had married him. Irene Hunt taught there and had for years. She watched as he broke the spirit of anyone to whom he had taken a dislike. Right now that was young Matthew Carpenter. He had real potential but was about to drop out of both the school and the profession under Medburn’s abuse. He ruled the Parents’ Association with an iron fist as well. Patty had been shocked when he approved her idea for the gala. Irene had showed up to help decorate, mostly with things made by the children and Patty was appreciative. Her father was the maintenance man at the school and he loved being around the children. There were other interesting people in the village, including Angela Brayshaw who apparently had been having an affair with Medburn. So, when he ended up hanged in the courtyard, there were no shortage of suspects.

Ramsey had recently gotten divorced and he had still not adjusted. He was off his game and he knew it. There were people at the station waiting for him to fail so they could step in. That didn’t make the investigating any easier. He enlisted Patty’s help as the villagers would talk to her more readily that to him. The investigation put him in contact with most of the village. As he drew nearer to discovering the murderer, the real murderer, as arresting the wife had been a mistake; things started happening fast. More people had reason to murder Medburn than he had realized.
Ramsey was a good character, quiet at first, but showing more depth as the story wore on. I expect great things from him in the future. The plot was good, and concise. There were plenty of hints as well as some red herrings along the way. The setting was good and will only get better as the series progresses. The pacing was good and the solution stood right before out eyes half way through the book.

I was invited to read A Lesson in Dying by St Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #AnnCleeves #ALessonInDying

I received this book through NetGalley, and I truly appreciate the opportunity to discover new authors and share my thoughts.

A Lesson in Dying is a captivating mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Ann Cleeves has a talent for creating richly developed characters and intricate plots that draw readers in. The pacing was perfect, and the tension throughout the story made it a page-turner. The twists and turns in the plot kept me guessing until the very end, making for a truly satisfying read.

Thank you again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to exploring more from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC of Anne Cleeves' 'A Lesson in Dying'.

A note to readers, this novel was originally published in 1990. I wish I had know this prior to reading as, having read her Shetland series, I was very disappointed with this novel. The characters lack substance, the inspector isn't personable, and the mystery is underwhelming. Too many characters are introduced right at the start and it is hard to initially keep track of who everyone is.

I'd highly recommend readers skip this novel and try the Shetland series instead.

I am a huge Ann Cleeves fan and was excited to discover this new title! A Lesson in Dying definitely meets the high bar set by Cleeves' previous novels. In the first mystery of this series, Inspector Ramsay must discover who in the village of Heppleburn killed the unpleasant headmaster. Of course, practically everyone has a motive. Thanks to the sometimes unwanted help of Jack Robson, the school caretaker, and Jack's daughter Patty, the murderer is finally revealed. Even more satisfying than the solution of this mystery was the development of the many characters. I hope that many of them return in the next installment of this fabulous series!

A Lesson in Dying is the first Inspector Ramsay Novel by Ann Cleeves.
I’m such a big fan of Cleeves and her amazing writing.
To say I’m so excited for a new series is an understatement.

The story kept me riveted and I devoured the book. I was kept up all night to figure out whodunit.
The plot is intricately layered, with twists and turns that keep the reader engaged from beginning to end.
An engaging, slow burning mystery with good ongoing character development and I’ll be interested to see how the series keeps developing.

I absolutely adore British mysteries. There’s just something about them that is so quaint and engaging all at the same time. The author does a fabulous job in this first book in the series by introducing you to the characters before launching into the murder mystery. It is well written and engaging and I cannot wait for the next entry in the series. I have found a new series to add to must read list.

The first suspect in a murder is always the spouse

That certainly appears to be the case in the murder of a universally disliked headmaster named Harold Medburn in the small Northumberland village of Heppleburn, at least in the opinion of Inspector Stephen Ramsay who has been assigned the investigation. Medburn's widow Kitty is not easy for Ramsay to decipher, but there is circumstantial evidence that points to her as the killer,and he is satisfied that the investigation is concluded. Jack Robson, the school caretaker, disagrees....he has known (and had feelings for) Kitty since they were young and he doesn't believe she would do such a thing. Since the police won't dig any deeper Jack takes it upon himself, with some help from his daughter Patty, to poke around the village to look for a different explanation. And what English village is complete without secrets, lies, and indiscretions that beget blackmail? When there is another death, Ramsay has no choice but to set aside his earlier theory of the crime and (unbeknownst to him )ends up following along Jack's line of inquiry. Who really killed the odious Medburn?
First off, readers of author Ann Cleeves' well-known Shetland and Vera Stanhope mystery series should know that this book was originally published back in 1990 or thereabouts, so is not exactly a new series (just new to most of us on this side of the pond). It is more of a cozy mystery that focuses upon a specific community and its dynamics. That said, while it may not have the same measure of complexity that Cleeves' more recent series do, it is still quite an enjoyable mystery, well put together and with more than a few surprises. The characters of Jack and Patty are really the focus of this outing (Inspector Ramsay would be fleshed out in later installments in the series), and the village in all its charm and insularity is well drawn. I would rate it 3.5 ⭐️, rounded up to 4. Fans of the author might enjoy a look at her earlier writing, as long as they know not to expect the same elements of mood and gritty reality of the more recent works. Readers of classic British mysteries by authors like M. C. Beaton, G. K. Chesterton and (of course) Agatha Christie will also likely appreciated this story. My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me access to A Lesson In Dying in exchange for my honest review....

A Lesson in Dying is book one in the Inspector Ramsay series. While called the Inspector Ramsay series, the actual Ramsay makes more of a cameo appearance in this novel. The real star of the show is the caretaker of the school Jack. Jack is a hopeless romantic that wants to free the lady he loves and the wife of the murdered school headmaster. Pure tenacity, finds Jack digging in his heels to solve the murder even when things don’t go his way. I really liked Jack and the community feel to the investigation. After reading the whole story, I still feel like Inspector Ramsay is a complete stranger and feel no attachment to him as the main character. If Jack were to continue as the detective I would definitely read that but I may or may not read book two in this series. My voluntary, unbiased, and non-mandatory review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

*3.5 stars*

Engaging murder mystery…

A British whodunit? An Inspector at the helm that has stood the test of many plots to become a reader favourite? Yes, please. Reading some of the (copious) number of reviews of this author and this series, I was preparing to be underwhelmed on this, the first go round for Inspector Ramsey, instead I have become fully invested…

The number of characters are almost dizzying at first, as the author slowly builds their backgrounds and brings them to life. A small village, people to like, to not care for, to perplex over – sounds like real life to me. When the murder actually happens, the events are happening to people I now know. Some I like, some perhaps not (yet) and others, meh. Of course, I needed to know who actually did it (and the events that followed). Keeping me guessing, this was an intriguing, if slow build intrigue…

I feel like this is the springboard book, as most series first are, and had the trademark depth of information overload. I understand many of the characters continue in the series, and that the writing becomes sharper as well. I look forward to both as I eagerly look forward to more by this author.