Murder In Her First Degree

Lizzie Bentham
Works of: Fiction

‘Pulsing with wit, bonhomie and boundless energy… A seamlessly plotted mystery in the tradition of Dorothy L Sayers and the golden age of detective fiction.’ Anna Legat

Autumn Term 1934

Manchester, England

Dorothea Roberts, a farmer’s daughter, leaves Derbyshire for the Victoria University of Manchester. Her academic career starts with a bang when she and her friends are drawn into investigating a spy-ring, after a chance encounter with a stranger on a train.

Members of the Women’s Student Union Committee are dying unexpectedly and everything points towards there being a killer on campus.

Dorothea must infiltrate the committee, whilst dealing with essay deadlines and her increasing feelings for the enigmatic Dr Geraint Hadley-Brown, before the killer strikes again at the Christmas fancy dress ball.

Worse still, Dorothea receives news that her friend’s daughter has been kidnapped, as a ploy to entrap her.

Can Dorothea unmask a murderer and prevent a spy-ring compromising national security?

Some lessons may be too dangerous to learn.