Jane Haddam, The Headmaster's Wife

Jane Haddam, The Headmaster's Wife - Mark DeAvecca is a first-year student at Windsor Prep but isn't feeling well; his hands shake, he hallucinates and has memory loss. Everyone on the campus assumes he is doing drugs because his roommate Michael Feyre is a drug dealer. One night he thinks he sees somebody lying down on the ground but when he goes to investigate nobody is there. Worried about his health, he calls his mother's friend, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian.

Gregor notices right away that Mark is not himself but he doesn't believe he's taking drugs. He takes him to his hotel for a meal and some sleep and when Mark wakes up he returns to the school. When Gregor goes to find him, he sees Mark convulsing on the floor. He calls 911 and after some tests are made they learn he is suffering from caffeine and arsenic poisoning. They don't know who gave it to him or who wants him dead but Gregor thinks it is linked to the "suicide" death of his roommate. Gregor leads the local police in the direction he believes is the right one to catch the perpetrators.

Jane Haddam has written another fantastic Gregor Demarkian mystery, only in this book his role is more of an observer than an active participant. Gregor is more concerned with his lover's revelation to his offhand comment about getting married and he uses the crimes as a way of escaping from Bennis's odd mood. The HEADMASTER'S WIFE is filled with eccentric and oddball characters with secrets to hide. Gregor's job is to figure out which one is desperate enough to kill to keep the secret buried.

Harriet Klausner