School for Villains by Bruno Vincent (author) (UK edition)

“I looked again at at the door and saw a message scrawled roughly in the mud of the wall above it, as though someone had used their whole hand to gouge it out: RIDLEY GARNET’S SCHOLE FUR VILLAINS.”

In the creepy town of Tumblewater, orphan Daniel Dorey is on the run from sinister millionaire Caspian Prye, who has kidnapped his sister. To escape, he must venture below the rain-drenched streets, where he unwittingly enrols in a very strange school. The classes include dagger throwing, forgery and lock-picking. And the teachers include villains such as Dr Bludger, who attacks corpses with an axe to give his students the chance to practise stitching! This is one school where naughtiness never goes unrewarded! But will Daniel learn his grisly lessons in time to rescue his sister?