Anabel Donald (1944–2021)

a highly recommended thriller with an unusual plot. Alex Tanner, a part time PI in London receives a strange package containing 200 pounds, a list of four famous feminists and a dead hamster with a plea "I must smash the glass ceiling. Stop me if you can". One name has been checked off and that woman has just died. Alex sets out to unravel the mystery with the urgent thought that she must save the lives of the remaining three.

In her childhood, Alex dreamt of being a private eye. Actually, she'd wanted to be a male private eye in Los Angeles, working Philip Marlowe's patch. Instead, she's settled for being a freelance TV researcher and private investigator in London. Her latest job takes her to an exclusive boys' boarding school investigating a suicide. Alex begins to hear chilling reports about the school but she ignores them ... until the second death.

This was just an average PI novel. There is one particular show more red-herring that drove me batty wondering what the story was there. I think it was bugging me more than the real mystery. But in the interests of not spoiling the book for future readers, I won't go into specifics here. show less