Maxwell's crossing - M. J Trow

At Leighford High, Peter 'Mad Max' Maxwell is temporarily promoted to Head of History when his colleague Paul, is chosen for an American exchange. Paul's counterpart is Hector Gold, who is accompanied by his eccentric family including his wife Camille and her parents, Jeff and Alana O'Malley. Jeff O'Malley is quite a character - with money to burn he has been gate-crashing the local poker school. When events take a sinister turn and one of the poker school's members, is found murdered, newly-promoted Inspector Jacquie Carpenter Maxwell investigates with the help of Maxwell. Is this simply a case of murder as revenge for name-calling?