Report for Murder by Val McDermid

When a prestigious girls' boarding school in Derbyshire falls into financial ruin, a high-profile gala fundraising concert seems to be its saving grace. Strapped for cash, cynical socialist and freelance reporter Lindsay Gordon reluctantly agrees to cover the event. The night takes a macabre turn when the star attraction, renowned cellist Lorna Smith-Couper, is discovered dead in a locked room—strangled by her own cello string minutes before she is due on stage. When a close friend is wrongly accused of the crime, Lindsay steps into the fray to unravel a tangled web of long-buried secrets, academic rivalries, and institutional cover-ups to expose the true killer.