Another Weston Public Library Mystery Book Discussion pick!

In 1926, the exotic Miss Elizabeth Channing arrives in Chatham , Massachusetts, to teach art at the Chatham School, a private school for the rebellious sons of well-heeled families. The headmaster assigns his son, Henry, to assist Miss Channing in getting settled into her new home, a cottage on Black Pond. To the dismay of the community, Miss Channing begins keeping regular company with another teacher at the school, Mr. Reed, a veteran of the Great War who is married and has a small daughter. The affair begins slowly, but it sparks unimaginable romance in young Henry’s fervid teenage imagination and leads to murder, suicide, jail, and loneliness for those involved directly and indirectly. Cook’s novel takes the form of Henry’s memoir–an attempt to understand what led to tragedy at Black Pond.

Like much of Cook’s previous work, it is the story of how our secrets control our destinies. This is a powerful, engaging, and deeply moving novel, highly recommended for all who enjoy well-crafted, genre-bending crime fiction. –Booklist

“Thomas Cook’s night visions, seen through a lens darkly, are haunting” – New York Times Book Review.

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