57. In the Hall with the Knife

In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery #1) Diana Peterfreund. 2019. [October] 298 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: The office of the headmaster of Blackbrook Academy looked like a high-budget, if not particularly imaginative, movie set.

Premise/plot: In the Hall with the Knife is a premise-driven mystery (inspired by a classic board game and possibly, possibly a movie?) for young adults. It is told in alternating chapters from the perspective of a handful of teens. Orchid McKee, Beth "Peacock" Picach, Vaughn Green, Sam "Mustard" Maestor, Finn Plum, and Scarlett Mistry. The setting is Blackbrook Academy. A storm leaves a handful--a dozen???--students with super-minimal staff (Mrs. White) trapped in Tudor House, one of the dormitories. (Parts of campus are flooded. The electricity (and of course the internet) is out. Which might lend to a few spooky feelings for those so inclined, but, there's no escaping that OFF feeling when their headmaster, BODDY, is found murdered--the weapon, a knife. Without a way to contact the authorities and begin an actual investigation, some teens start to take things into their own hands to try to figure out if the murderer is one of their own--or a stranger. 

My thoughts: Secrets. Lies. Danger. That is what this one promises. I'm not sure it delivered 100% on those promises, but it did keep me turning pages. (Though I'll point out I did read it over a week, so it wasn't so intense and compelling I had to finish it in one or two days.)

I am not familiar with the board game. I mean I know of its existence, but my family never owned it and I've never played it. I am not the best judge when it comes to how the mood of the book compares to the game itself. I have seen the movie in bits and pieces, here and there. I've never watched it beginning to end--which I think would be important. 

Almost all the characters are teens. (The exception being Mrs. White and Boddy.) I know in the board game and the movie the characters are different than how they are presented in the book. 

How does it work as a mystery apart from the gimmicky premise? I thought it was a little too busy here and there with too many narrators. I almost would have preferred to have just one or two and have the other characters all be suspects and potential victims. I didn't personally need to be in so many heads. I think that would have allowed more character development and possibly more suspense. 

The characters that held the most intrigue for me were Orchid and Vaughn. So many unanswered questions that have absolutely nothing to do with the mystery in this book--not really. 

I do feel we're thrown into the middle of a mystery.

 

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