Book of the Month for September is ONE BAD APPLE by Jo Jakeman

By Asia Khatun

We’ve selected One Bad Apple by Jo Jakeman as our Book of the Month for September to mark the end of the summer holidays. It’s back to school now and there’s nothing quite like a school-based murder mystery to kick off the Autumn season.

One Bad Apple is a murder mystery set at an exclusive boys school in Cornwall, peopled with characters anyone who has ever stood at the school gates will instantly recognise.

In our exclusive blog, Jo Jakeman tells us what inspired her to write One Bad Apple.

Exclusive Blog from Jo Jakeman

One Bad Apple is about the seemingly impossible murder of a beloved Headmaster at an exclusive boys’ school, but it’s also about the Year 7 mums plotting to protect their kids and their status at all costs.

It explores themes of fitting in and bullying. It shows how everyone, from kids to parents to teachers, can find themselves entangled in a cycle of bullying and struggling to meet others’ expectations.

As a mother to teenage sons, I find that their school environment influences my day-to-day life as much as it does theirs. Initially, One Bad Apple emerged from my frustration and sense of powerlessness when one of my children was bullied. They tell me I can’t fight all their battles for them. Well, we’ll see about that!

Joking aside, apart from the initial impulse to storm the school and confront the bully, I started contemplating the intricate dynamics at play, especially the influence of home environments on children’s behaviour. Parents, teachers, and other kids can put enormous demands on our children. We have no idea what other pressures they’re dealing with, but we know that no one’s life is as flawless as it appears.

I’ve formed great friendships through my sons and their schools – even becoming friends with some of their former teachers. Nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to explore the darker side of toxic parental competition in a humorous manner. I’ll hold my hands up and admit to being overly involved in my kids’ schooling, but I’m a novice compared to some. In my experience, schools are brimming with driven, competitive parents, whether on the sports field or within the PTA.

I’ve encountered the stressful gauntlet of school projects, bake sales, plays, and concerts – and let me tell you, there is absolutely no way all those kids were baking their own cakes without parental help! There’s a chapter in the book – you’ll recognise it when you read it – where the characters discuss how much of the project was actually done by the child in question, and these were thoughts I’ve had on more than one occasion. I can’t be the only one.

I must point out here that the parents’ WhatsApp groups I’ve been part of have been mainly for arranging collections for the teachers or confirming when the non-uniform day is, not for solving a murder – but I’d back our sleuthing skills any day!

All of these experiences provided the backdrop for One Bad Apple. However, the death of the Headmaster at the centre of the story stems from the notion that people often say they would die for their children – but would they kill for them?

One Bad Apple by Jo Jakeman publishes 19th September 2024, pre-order now!