WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER, by Elizabeth George

One of the long-running and phenominally successful Lynley novels, also seen on TV. Aristocratic Inspector Lynley and his fashion-failure working-class sidekick Barbara Havers are thrust into an investigation of the disappearance of a young boy from a school. When Deborah St. James, Lynley's old love and wife of his best friend, finds a child's naked body in a churchyard, forensic scientist Simon St. James is drawn into the search. The center is Bredigar Chambers, a "public" (we'd say private, posh and privileged) school, where old school traditions of honor clash with the students' tradition of secrecy and silence regardless of how terrible the situation. Will old school ties win out? Will secret longings be revealed? Will everyone's demons be vanquished and tensions resolved? As always, George delivers. First published in 1990, the story deals with issues all too critical today. All Lynley stories save one (What Came Before He Killed Her) can be read as stand-alones, but in series makes them so much better. A 5. www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com

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