School Mysteries

A breath of fresh air is sorely needed after finishing The Magic Mountain. Thomas H. Cook answers the call. Every book of his is a subtle mind game. The one I’m reading current is actually a re-read with which he found breakout success, The Chatham School Affair. It was set in the small town of Chatham in Cape Cod back in early 1920s. The narrative shuffles back and forth in time. Attorney Henry Griswald has a secret: the truth behind the tragic events the world knew as the Chatham School Affair, the controversial tragedy that destroyed five lives, shattered a quiet community, and forever scarred the young boy. Layer by layer, in The Chatham School Affair, Cook paints a stunning portrait of a woman, a school, and a town in which passionate violence seems impossible and inevitable. This book has the highest rating of all his books on goodreads except Red Leaves. Another great mystery with an academic setting is Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris, a dark thriller set in the prestigious St. Oswald’s Grammar School, where, as the new term gets under way, a number of incidents befall students and faculty alike, beginning as small annoyances but soon escalating in both number and consequence.