A Lesson in Dying cover art

A Lesson in Dying

Inspector Ramsay, Book 1

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

A Lesson in Dying

By: Ann Cleeves
Narrated by: Simon Mattacks
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.20

Buy Now for £12.20

A Lesson in Dying is the first mystery novel in the Inspector Ramsay series by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera Stanhope crime series.

Who hung the headmaster in the playground on the night of the school Halloween Party?

Almost everyone in Heppleburn either hated or feared the viper-tongued Harold Medburn. Inspector Ramsay is convinced it was the headmaster’s enigmatic wife but Jack Robson, school governor and caretaker, is determined to prove her innocence.

With the help of his restless daughter Patty, Jack digs into the secrets of Heppleburn, and uncovers a cesspit of lies, adultery, blackmail and madness . . .

Continue the classic whodunit series with Murder in My Backyard.

Ann Cleeves Classic Crime - engaging mysteries to savour, beloved characters to meet again.

Praise for Ann Cleeves:

'Ann Cleeves is a stone cold genius' – Marian Keyes, author of My Favorite Mistake

'Everything Ann Cleeves writes is incredible' – Richard Osman, author of The Thursday Murder Club

'Ann Cleeves’s elegance as a wordsmith, the ingenuity of her plots, and the depth of her characters can be matched by few writers' – David Baldacci, author of The 6:20 Man

 Crime Crime Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Small Town & Rural Suspense
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

A fine writer
Cleeves is quietly carving out a reputation as the new Queen of Crime
Ann Cleeves is a skilful technician, keeping our interest alive and building slowly up to the denouement. Her easy use of language and clever story construction make her one of the best natural writers of detective fiction
Nobody does unsettling undercurrents better than Ann Cleeves (Val McDermid)
Ann Cleeves has an enviable talent . . . I love these books
All stars
Most relevant
…a pretty good, well constructed and interesting story nonetheless. And beautifully performed by the excellent Simon Mattacks. Recommended.

Not Vera or Perez but…

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Characters lacked depth and made it hard to identify with them. Story itself was ok

A very sparse story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great to find new Anne Sleeves books, and another detective, although I must say I prefer the others.

Great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An Agatha Christie-ish thriller based in a small English town where at first no one and then everyone is a suspect. The story moves along from suspect to suspect rather laboriously, I thought, and found myself hoping it would end soon rather than that feeling of gloom that you get when you get near the end of a very good book, wishing there was more.

Not the best from Anne Cleeves

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Ann Cleeves is always a safe pair of hands, a fairly short one but good characters but I’m saving my 5 out of 5 for books I truly love.

Note to self

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews