What do you think?
Rate this book
The Principal
Dorothy Belle Butts is conniving, ruthless, and manipulative. She is also principal of Brogan Way Middle School. So, on a Monday morning when her body is found in her office, the questions begin. The only problem is knowing where to start. A jilted love? Maybe some person from her past? An angry teacher? After all, she was every teacher's worst nightmare. Take a ride with Officers Murphy and Polaski as they try to unravel the sordid and steamy tale.
274 pages, Paperback
Published August 23, 2018
89 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 28, 2019
Hate and Love
First of all,I would recommend this book to all who reading. Doesn't matter what genre you usually enjoy, this book has it all.
It catches your attention and doesn't let go. You wonder why you keep reading. It's not like your usual read, but you read to the end. Linda, knows how to write!! She builds a wonderful tale that just keeps reading.
Best book I have read this year.
First of all,I would recommend this book to all who reading. Doesn't matter what genre you usually enjoy, this book has it all.
It catches your attention and doesn't let go. You wonder why you keep reading. It's not like your usual read, but you read to the end. Linda, knows how to write!! She builds a wonderful tale that just keeps reading.
Best book I have read this year.
June 10, 2020
This middle school principal is definitely the principal from hell. When her body is discovered in her office on a Monday morning, lots of people come under the eyes of the police. They hear over and over again how disliked the principal was.
It has a delicious ending.
It has a delicious ending.
September 3, 2021
So so mystery
This story didn't have much meat to it. Kind of repetitive story line. Not much of a mystery. Kind of boring.
This story didn't have much meat to it. Kind of repetitive story line. Not much of a mystery. Kind of boring.
January 15, 2020
A good story which was dragged on with too much superfluous information. Info on the persons of interest was apropos, but there was so much info given on others of no consequence, which does not do much more than fill pages with words. When I had reached Chapter 47, which was showing as 59% of the book read, I felt that the time period must be about a week after the murder, but then found that it actually happened just the night before Then when I got to 69% of the book, we finally had made it to a day later. Talk about dragging it out. If it were not for the fact that I really had to know who the killer was, I would have quit the book right then and there. The constant back and forth; i.e.: 3 weeks before, 3 months before, etc. did not at all enhance the continuity of the story.
And, before I go further, the writer should do a little research. Had she done so, she would have found that NO Police Detective would EVER go out to dinner with someone from the pool of suspects during the course of a murder investigation. That is considered a Conflict of Interest and could have caused him to lose his job.
I have to say, the ending was a surprise. I doubt anyone reading the book would have come up with the solution. It was truly inspired. I have to give the writer credit for that.
On another note, if DB had Carla when she was 17, and then went to college and through the ranks of academia as a teacher until she reached principal, at that point she probably was somewhere in her 50's I would think. So, just as a point of interest, isn't Carlton who was DB's boyfriend, a wee old to be going out with Carla, DB's daughter? Just a thought.
I doubt that I will read any further books by Ms. Maguire, as I don't think I can plow through another book such as this one, even though it eventually proved to be a good story, but much to lengthily told.
And, before I go further, the writer should do a little research. Had she done so, she would have found that NO Police Detective would EVER go out to dinner with someone from the pool of suspects during the course of a murder investigation. That is considered a Conflict of Interest and could have caused him to lose his job.
I have to say, the ending was a surprise. I doubt anyone reading the book would have come up with the solution. It was truly inspired. I have to give the writer credit for that.
On another note, if DB had Carla when she was 17, and then went to college and through the ranks of academia as a teacher until she reached principal, at that point she probably was somewhere in her 50's I would think. So, just as a point of interest, isn't Carlton who was DB's boyfriend, a wee old to be going out with Carla, DB's daughter? Just a thought.
I doubt that I will read any further books by Ms. Maguire, as I don't think I can plow through another book such as this one, even though it eventually proved to be a good story, but much to lengthily told.
January 21, 2019
Very elementary writing except for the subjects within the book. It is not for children, but the style is written like a child wrote it.
April 28, 2020
I bought this book in part to support a local author, and the touches of local color didn't disappoint me. The mystery of who killed a widely-disliked middle school principal had a surprise ending that I won't disclose but that I really liked.
Getting to the solution got to be a challenge the more I read. Paragraphs are dense, filled with unnecessary details that were annoying. The book meanders a lot, sometimes without making it clear why we were reading about a month ago or six months ago. In chapter 41 I was really annoyed to still be reading, "She was really dead," which I'd seen a lot in the first 15 or 20 chapters.
The author has a good imagination and developed some interesting characters, with a couple of plot twists at the end. I hope future books will be more streamlined.
Getting to the solution got to be a challenge the more I read. Paragraphs are dense, filled with unnecessary details that were annoying. The book meanders a lot, sometimes without making it clear why we were reading about a month ago or six months ago. In chapter 41 I was really annoyed to still be reading, "She was really dead," which I'd seen a lot in the first 15 or 20 chapters.
The author has a good imagination and developed some interesting characters, with a couple of plot twists at the end. I hope future books will be more streamlined.
January 28, 2019
Laughable and not in a humorous way. Hopefully the writing will improve. My child had this teacher in middle school, and I was hoping for a different kind of novel. I was embarrassed for the writer by some parts of the book. I wish she had left them out. A former teacher should write something of more substance.
February 2, 2019
I abandoned this one at 10%. The amateur writing, repetitious descriptions, and unrealistic activity just didn’t lead to any engagement. The principal murdered; and school goes on as usual. Hours after the body is taken away and police have been on scene for hours, there is discussion about how to announce the news to the students! Nothing about the students’ or teachers’ actions or dialogue is the least bit believable. At 10% no characters are being developed and no plot is advancing.
March 30, 2020
yeah. I couldn't ~ just could NOT ~ make myself finish this. Period. I couldn't get into the characters ~ I'd chosen it because I'm a semi-retired teacher, and figured I'd like it because I've taught for a very long time. Nope. ~ couldn't get into the plot/story line. Just didn't interest me.
February 7, 2019
Skip this one. It isn't worth the time. I had to abandon it about two-thirds of the way through because it was confusing.
February 11, 2020
Plods along slowly
Boring to read. Story premise might have been ok but it was hard to develop an interest in the characters.
Boring to read. Story premise might have been ok but it was hard to develop an interest in the characters.
February 13, 2021
Terrible writing. Sixty three chapters that could easily be condensed into less than thirty. The book ended with no resolution.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews