Murder on a School Night by Kate Weston

Title: Murder on a School Night

Author: Kate Weston

Genre: Crime, Mystery

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia/Electric Monkey

Published: 6^th July 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Price: $13.99

Synopsis: Sex Education meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder in this darkly hilarious YA murder mystery by Comedy Women in Print Prize and Carnegie Medal nominated author, Kate Weston.

‘Fiercely funny, feminist and FUN! I bloody loved it’ M.A. KUZNIAR

There’s never a good time to find a dead body. But finding a dead body while you’re trying to kiss your crush?

Dead awkward.

All Kerry wants to do is stay at home with her rom-coms and strict retainer schedule. Instead, her BFF Annie has roped her into going to their first sixth-form party to investigate who’s cyberbullying Heather, the most popular girl in school.

On the cusp of kissing her dreamy crush, Scott, Kerry discovers the body of Heather’s second in command – suffocated with a menstrual cup. Within days, another student turns up dead, this time with a sanitary pad across the eyes. Now Annie and Kerry are officially on the case to stop the menstrual murderer . . . period.

~*~

Kerry and Annie are in sixth form, and they’re not exactly in the popular crowd. Annie is determined that one day they will be, amidst all her feminist outcries and determination to upend the patriarchy, whilst Kerry – the narrator of the book – would prefer to stay home and watch rom-coms and really, just get through sixth form so she can get into university and leave Barnborough. Oh, and she’s a feminist too. So when the most popular girl in school, Heather, asks them to find out who is cyberbullying her, Annie drags Kerry along to a party for their year. It’s the last thing Kerry wants to do – but her crush, Scott, is going.

Things are going okay, until Kerry and Scott sneak off to have a little kiss alone when they stumble across a body – Selena, Heather’s second in command. Finding a dead body wasn’t in the plan – and nobody ever thought they’d find Selena choked to death on a menstrual cup. The police – DI Wallace and DI Collins – seem to think it was an accident, because they’re not quite sure what the cup is meant to do or how it works. The investigation starts to head into accidental death territory – until a second student is milled and has a pad stuck to his face. Now things will heat up, surely?

Kerry and Annie are drawn into the investigation – determined to find out who is behind it all – because they’ve read all the books and watch all the shows. Well, Annie has. And as the police set their sights on a suspect, the two friends can sense there is more to things than the police are seeing. All whilst showing the world that feminism is alive and well.

The majority of the novel takes place over a week or two – playing with the usual mystery and amateur detective tropes, and bringing them into the twenty-first century, with a bit of ingenuity and many references to various shows, movies, and books that a range of readers – both young adult and adult will be able to appreciate. It also reflects the very real world of having periods and the various products those who have them use to manage them, but also the stigma that has been attached to them. What this book does is show them for what they are – something natural, and these girls aren’t ashamed to talk about them or use the correct names for the products they use.

The mystery is the key aspect of the novel though, which explores identity and high school as well, and also where you fit in with friends and changing friendship dynamics, so there is a bit of something for everyone. In true mystery style, the red herrings and clues appear throughout, so as a reader, you can rule some people out but constantly question others. There was something with the history of one character’s relative that didn’t quite fit – it seemed too convenient. I always expect to see tropes like this in crime fiction in some way – I think they need to be there, and Kerry and Annie’s references to crime shows and novels was like a little in-joke for those who are familiar with the genre. It is done in a way that is funny, serious, and enjoyable all at once.

As a female-driven novel, it deals with issues that women face as a sinister person wreaks havoc on the village. It examines the close-knit community as well, and the intricate relationships that are formed over the years, leading to big community impacts, especially in a village where everyone knows everyone. This worked well, because it opened up so many avenues for suspects and I imagine there could have been many more as well. It also shows that people can take back the power that they feel others have over them and shows that sometimes you can find friends in unlikely places. And yes, murder can in this case lead to these changes and finding out who you can really trust. An intriguing novel that will have an audience waiting for it.