The Elephant didn’t murder our dad - the zoo did.
Jamie Strauss didn't just lose his father to an accident—he lost him to murder. Now, he takes a job inside the corrupt institution where his father died. Join Jamie and his activist sister, Amy, as they chase the truth.
Written by a zoo insider, this gripping novel is fiction, but every dark routine and incident of animal mistreatment on these pages pulls its secrets from real life.
As Jamie digs, he links his father’s death to institutional fraud, dangerous secrets, and the tragic fate of the animals he once loved. He must decide who to trust before the influential figures running the show silence him for good.
Blending real-world cruelty with suspense, humour, and heart, GOOD ZOO, BAD ZOO, DEAD DAD is more than just a story. It’s a wake-up call.
If you liked ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’, then you will enjoy the world ‘Good Zoo, Bad Zoo, Dead Dad.’ opens up for you and the journey Jamie takes to discover who murdered his dad.
Betrayal
Animal Cruelty
Revenge
Consequences
Romance
Truth
Obsession
Murder
Extermination
Justice
Sexuality
Deformed
Betrayal Animal Cruelty Revenge Consequences Romance Truth Obsession Murder Extermination Justice Sexuality Deformed
Good Zoo. Bad Zoo. Dead Dad.
For many of us, a trip to the zoo is part of growing up.
As children and teenagers, we rarely stop to ask what that experience costs the animals on the other side of the fence.
Good Zoo. Bad Zoo. Dead Dad is a murder mystery for readers aged 14 to 20+. It’s fast-paced and entertaining, but also an easy way to explore the bigger picture — balancing the joy of visiting a zoo with the hidden cost of providing that experience.
Woven through the fiction are true, first-hand accounts of what really happens behind the scenes, giving readers a chance to see beyond the turnstiles.
Chapter One
Today I start a summer job at the zoo where an elephant trampled my Dad to death. They call it an accident. I say it’s murder.
The entrance plaza greets me with a sticky, sour mix of warm chemical disinfectant and rank animal pee. I know this place by heart, but the old thrill died with my father. My feet drag on the paving stones, the very air snags in my throat. Mum warned working here this might trigger me, but I didn’t expect it to before I started work.
Ahead, kids cry, parents snap and unhappiness simmers along the queues for the ‘UK’s Greatest Zoo’. The looping ‘jungle music’ drills into my skull, a relentless, cheap soundtrack I can't switch off. The email said to wait by the hot-dog stall, a silver trolley painted in zebra stripes. I step aside to avoid the crowd, under a sign which read: ‘PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS’. Ironic.
A moan makes its way to me and a little girl wearing a rabbit-ear headband screams, “Dad, speak to someone. They can’t have run out.”
I’m always hungry, but not today.
Somewhere beyond the gates, an elephant trumpeted and …
Why Write a Novel About a Zoo?
"Chains, concrete, boredom so deep it breaks them. You can read about cruelty in zoos, but when it’s part of a story, you feel every cage slam shut."
Zoo Welfare Campaigner
They told us the baboons had been ‘humanely put to sleep’. I only found out later they were healthy — just not needed. That’s when I stopped believing zoos care."
Judy, 15-year-old zoo visitor
"I saw lion cubs born twisted, blind, and in pain because of inbreeding. We called it ‘bad luck’. The truth is, it was bad planning and worse priorities."
Former Zoo Keeper
Free Book For Teachers - What Does a Zoo Mean To You?
We're delighted to offer "Good Zoo, Bad Zoo: The Truth Behind the Bars" as a free resource designed to transform a familiar school trip topic into a powerful ethical debate.
This companion guide, written in a clear, accessible voice for students aged 12–16, addresses the central paradox of modern zoos: the tension between conservation claims and the reality of captivity.
Enhance Your Zoo Trip - Make Your Students Think About Zoos
While most young people experience zoos through the lens of family fun and feel-good marketing, this book provides the essential, often-hidden context. It challenges students to move past surface-level observations—like seeing an elephant "smile" —to grapple with systemic issues such as zoochosis , surplus animal euthanasia , and the true effectiveness of breeding programs.
This resource includes structured chapters, Fast Facts, and critical discussion questions (pages 15-18) that are ready to be used in the classroom, fostering vital conversations about ethics, empathy, and what it truly means to protect wildlife.
Good Zoo, Bad Zoo: The Truth Behind the Bars
Introduction: This companion guide is designed to accompany the novel Good Zoo, Bad Zoo, Dead Dad. It offers structured, critical analysis of the modern zoo industry, providing students aged 12-16 with facts and ethical questions to challenge common perceptions of conservation, education, and animal welfare.
Chapter One: The First Time I Saw an Elephant
The first time I saw an elephant, I thought it was smiling at me. I was six. I remember the sun bouncing off the railings, the smell of popcorn and hot dogs, and Mum warning me not to lean too far over the fence. The elephant stood under a fake tree, slowly swaying from side to side, its trunk tracing shapes in the air. I waved. It swayed back. I thought we understood each other. Later, Dad told me elephants do not smile. They just have faces that look like they might.
He worked at the zoo back then in Animal Care. It was his whole life: the animals, the routines, the quiet pride of doing something that mattered. When he talked about them, his voice changed. He said things like “these creatures trust us” and “every animal has a story”. I believed him. I believed in zoos. It is strange how long a belief like that lasts, even when the truth starts to chip away at it. Because years later, in the same zoo, that same elephant trampled my Dad to death. They called it an accident. I do not think it was.
When you grow up inside a zoo, and I did in a way , you learn there are two versions of every story. There is the one told through signs: Conservation. Education. Animal Welfare. And then there is the one whispered behind staff doors, written in feeding logs and hidden reports. Visitors see animals. Keepers see systems. The first system I ever noticed was how the day ran like clockwork. Feeding, cleaning, training, repeat. The animals had routines, but they did not get to make them. It was comforting at first, seeing order instead of chaos. But then I wondered what order feels like when you never get to choose it.
I am not saying all zoos are bad. That is not the point of this book. Zoos are complicated, a mix of care and captivity, kindness and control. They save animals sometimes. They also break them. And if we really love animals, we have to ask hard questions about the things we build to “protect” them. Like: Why do elephants sway when they are supposed to be calm? Why do some lions stop roaring? Why do keepers have to hide what happens behind the scenes? This book is not about guilt. It is about curiosity, the same curiosity that first made me love the zoo.
When I think back to that first elephant, I still see its eyes. They were not blank. They were not happy either. They were waiting. Waiting for something to change. Maybe that is what this book is for: to make sure it does not have to wait forever.
Fast Facts
A wild elephant can walk up to 30 miles a day.
The average zoo enclosure gives it space to walk less than a quarter of a mile.
Think About
If an animal has everything it needs to live—food, water, shelter—but not what it needs to be itself, is it still safe?
Glossary
Captivity: When an animal is kept by humans and cannot choose where to go.
Chapter Two: From Kings to Conservation
When I was a kid, I thought zoos had always existed. Like shops or schools. But zoos have not always been about caring for animals. In the beginning, they were about power. The first “zoos” were menageries, private collections kept by kings and queens. They wanted rare creatures to show off their wealth. Lions, tigers
SEND THE FREE STUDY BOOK TO ME