Private schools—with their old-money elitism, ivy-covered buildings, and bucolic grounds that look more like country clubs than educational institutions—are ripe settings for mysteries and thrillers. Behind the stone gates, secrets are closely guarded, longstanding traditions can take on the air of cultic rituals, and justice is often meted out in a clandestine manner. I create just such a world of cloistered power in my upcoming novel, All the Dirty Secrets, where my main character, Liza, a graduate of a Washington D.C. private school, must face the dark side of such privilege. For research, I drew on my own last two years of high school at a New England boarding school, as well as articles and nonfiction books like Lacy Crawford’s fiercely beautiful Notes on a Silencing, her memoir about surviving sexual assault at one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious boarding schools.
But my interest in the hidden world of private schools may have started when, as a tween, I packed Lois Duncan’s Down a Dark Hall in my sleepaway camp duffel bag. Duncan was a master of the young adult thriller in the 70s and 80s, and in Down a Dark Hall she tells the story of Kit Gordy, who is sent to the Blackwood school for girls where there are only three other students. They all suddenly develop extraordinary talents—Kit wakes one night a virtuoso, able to play complicated musical pieces she has never even heard before. But the gothic tale takes a dark turn with ghosts, spirits of talented historical figures, a domineering headmistress, and a devastating fire.
Fast forward to today and there is a wealth of twisty YA mysteries set at private schools. Books such as The Similars, The Ivies, and People Like Us have helped make private school thrillers a subgenre that shows no signs of abating in popularity. But as scary as it might be to imagine being a student roaming these rarified halls, avoiding the wrath of the mean girls and the secret societies, it can be even more terrifying to be a parent or a teacher. Here are a few adult entries in the private-school thriller genre.
For Your Own Good by Samantha Dowling
In this fast-paced and sharply written thriller, Teddy Crutcher is teacher of the year at the Belmont Academy and takes pride in his job. He claims his wife does, too—but no one has seen her lately. And when a popular student, a fellow teacher, and a parent start meddling in his life, he will stop at nothing to teach them lessons for their own good. Once again, Dowling displays her ability to get inside a truly diabolical mind that made her earlier book My Lovely Wife such a great read.
The Secret Place by Tana French
A girl arrives at a Dublin police station with new information about a boy who was found murdered at St. Kilda’s boarding school a year earlier. And when Detective Stephen Moran and Detective Antoinette Conway take a new look at the case, they are thrust into the complicated tangled lives of teenaged girls. A cast of plausible suspects keeps you guessing who the murderer is until the very end. This is book number five in the Dublin Murder Squad series, but you don’t need to have read the first four to enjoy it. Like her other novels, this one showcases why French is such a master at her craft, releasing information at a controlled pace, developing a delicious tension, and developing character and themes that stay with you long after the mystery has been solved.
Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik
This slow-burn thriller explores the seedy side of a Connecticut prep school and one family’s dark dysfunction. Grace Baker attended the Chandler School with her younger sister Nica, who is found murdered. Another student confesses before dying by suicide and the case is quickly closed. But when Grace finds a clue that indicates her sister’s killer is still free, she becomes obsessed with finding, and punishing, the person who really did it. It isn’t just a claustrophobic prep school Grace has to reckon with but a narcissistic mother who photographs her every move, Sally Mann style.
The Sea of Lost Girls by Carol Goodman
Goodman is a master of the private school setting, and this one features the prestigious Haywood boarding school. Tess is starting life anew as a teacher at the school, which was once a home for wayward girls, when a student is found dead. Tess’s husband, also a teacher, and moody son both get swept up in the investigation. Turns out this is not the first scandal at Haywood, and as Tess learns about the school’s history, she is forced to face the truth about her son, her husband and her own past. An atmospheric setting on the coast of Maine adds a gothic touch to this mystery.
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
While this book is aimed at a young adult audience, anyone who loves shocking twists will enjoy this incendiary thriller that explores race and class at a prestigious private school. Described as “Get Out” meets “Gossip Girl,” the book follows two students at Niveus Private Academy who, as the only Black students at the school, have landed in the crosshairs of a secret white supremacist network. The two must work together to ensure they become the first Black students to graduate, or die trying.
Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison
This psychological thriller is set at a prep school in rural Virginia, which has been nicknamed a Silent Ivy due to its reputation for sending its young graduates to Ivy League universities. Each class contains only fifty girls—hand-picked by the dean herself—and all of whom are gifted, intelligent and belonging to powerful and connected families. But not all is good at The Goode School, and when a student is found dead, Ash Carlisle, a new student who has recently lost her parents, must figure out whether her new classmates are friends or killers.
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