Well-Schooled In Murder is the fourth book in Elizabeth George's series revolving around detectives Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers.

This novel takes place inside the walls of one of England's very upper crust boarding schools, where wealthy families send their boys and girls, paving their way for later greatness. The school's reputation is pristine, even if the reality is not quite so. When 13 year old Matthew Whateley disappears, a kidnapping is feared. Even when the boy's body is found, obviously having been tortured before being murdered, still, protecting the school's reputation appears to be the higher priority in the minds of the school's administrators.

What seems, at first, to be a simple case gets ever more complicated as Lynley and Havers conduct their investigation. Along the way, many of the school's hidden secrets are brought to light: class distinctions, older boys bullying the younger ones, secret relationships among the staff members, the students, and even the parents, child pornography, sexual abuse, and unwritten codes of honor that rally to keep everyone silent.

The story was definitely exciting, as you never knew what would turn up next. There are loads of secrets revealed, even if not all of them lead to the killer's identity. George seems to delight in this technique - revealing juicy secrets that end up having nothing to do with the main story. That's ok, though, it definitely made the story very interesting.

The main characters are well-developed, that's for sure. It doesn't matter if you've read the other books in the series or not, you will feel like you get to know the characters. In fact, we get a major look into Barbara's personal life, and the difficulties she faces at home every day. Even characters with smaller roles in this book are examined in depth. Most notably, we learn a lot about Deborah St. James. She's the woman who found Matthew's body, and she's also the wife of the town's forensic expert. (And she has a romantic past with Lynley). But in this book we learn about a private trauma in her life.

This book will not appeal to everyone, though. The subject matter becomes quite dark and disturbing at times. After all, we're talking about the torture of a young boy. There's also a fairly detailed account of some sexual abuse being perpetrated upon another student. These details are difficult to read.

But the real problem I had with this book is the constant theme of lies. Everyone lies in this book! And not just the guilty parties - you'd expect them to lie, in order to cover their tracks. But in this book, even nice, innocent people are lying for all kinds of reasons. The investigation could have been concluded so much faster, if people just stopped lying! The worst was when a young girl claims she doesn't even know the person she's being asked about. Doesn't know him, never heard of him. Except that there are pictures of them together. Oh, and she's in love with him and had just seen him that day. That's what I'm talking about - the characters lie as easily as they breathe.

Then there are the characters that don't actually lie, but they omit. Deborah is guilty of this, keeping from her own husband some information that could really help matters. Instead she keeps quiet, and risks losing her marriage. Barbara is guilty of this as well. Her home life is very difficult, and she could really use some help. But her pride keeps her silent. So, instead of receiving some much-needed help, she tries to handle it all on her own, which only makes matters worse.

Despite this complaint, I enjoyed this book. The story and the characters are very engaging. Lovers of the 'whodunit' genre will enjoy piecing this one together. I will definitely read other Elizabeth George novels, but I sure hope that the characters in those novels are a bit more forthcoming.

Also by Elizabeth George:
Deception on His Mind
In the Presence of the Enemy

Recommended: Yes