The Headmaster's Wife - (Gregor Demarkian Novels) by Jane Haddam (Paperback)

About the Book

At the Windsor School, an exclusive prep school in Connecticut, a student is found hanged in the cellar after rumors of an affair with the headmaster's wife. Martin's Press.

Book Synopsis

Windsor Academy ranks as one of the best New England prep schools money can buy. From its Gothic arches to its ethnic diversity, it looks picture perfect...as long as nobody notices that the headmaster's wife has a student lover and drugs are as available as candy. And when freshman Mark DeAvecca looks out a faux medieval window and sees a body across the campus, he wonders if he's hallucinating-especially when no corpse is found. Since everyone thinks that Mark is a druggie, they all ignore him-until he returns to his dorm room to discover his roommate dead, hanged by the neck from the ceiling.

Desperate, Mark calls his mother's friend Gregor Demarkian, former FBI agent and the one person Mark knows will listen. Demarkian is world-weary and ready to retire from his investigative career, yet he can't turn down a plea from a scared kid. And it doesn't take long before Gregor knows something is very wrong at Windsor Academy...something like manipulation, dirty tricks, and murder.

From the Back Cover

"In the tradition of P.D. James, Jane Haddam's novels combine compelling story lines with a keen-eyed, complex sense of the character's psychology and sharp, evocative sense of place "

THE HEADMASTER'S WIFE
Windsor Academy ranks as one of the best New England prep schools money can buy. From its Gothic arches to its ethnic diversity, it looks picture perfect...as long as nobody notices that the headmaster's wife has a student lover and drugs are as available as candy. And when freshman Mark DeAvecca looks out a faux medieval window and sees a body across the campus, he wonders if he's hallucinating especially when no corpse is found. Since everyone thinks that Mark is a druggie, they all ignore him until he returns to his dorm room to discover his roommate dead, hanged by the neck from the ceiling.

Desperate, Mark calls his mother's friend Gregor Demarkian, former FBI agent and the one person Mark knows will listen. Demarkian is world-weary and ready to retire from his investigative career, yet he can't turn down a plea from a scared kid. And it doesn't take long before Gregor knows something is very wrong at Windsor Academy...something like manipulation, dirty tricks, and murder.

"Compelling...campus politics and intrigue intermingle with sex, suicide and possibly murder in Haddam's searing 20th Gregor Demarkian mystery."
"Publishers Weekly "starred review

"Intelligently written masterful."
--"Indianapolis"" Star""

Review Quotes

Gregor, like the series itself, shows no signs of stopping. "Booklist"

Sharp, intelligent, and inventive the kind of mysteries a Dorothy L. Sayers or a Josephine Tey might have been proud to come up with in the genre's so-called Golden Age like a good cabinet maker, Haddam knows exactly how to cut and polish her material into art. "Chicago Tribune"

Fans of Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian mystery stories will be pleased that the celebrated FBI agent is back to crack another case intelligently written and well-paced Haddam handles multiple murders and complex story lines in a masterful way that makes this tale a worthwhile read. "Indianapolis Star""

"Gregor, like the series itself, shows no signs of stopping."--"Booklist"""
"Sharp, intelligent, and inventive the kind of mysteries a Dorothy L. Sayers or a Josephine Tey might have been proud to come up with in the genre's so-called Golden Age like a good cabinet maker, Haddam knows exactly how to cut and polish her material into art."--"Chicago"" Tribune"
""
"Fans of Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian mystery stories will be pleased that the celebrated FBI agent is back to crack another case intelligently written and well-paced Haddam handles multiple murders and complex story lines in a masterful way that makes this tale a worthwhile read."--"Indianapolis"" Star"
"

" Gregor, like the series itself, shows no signs of stopping." -- "Booklist"""
" Sharp, intelligent, and inventive... the kind of mysteries a Dorothy L. Sayers or a Josephine Tey might have been proud to come up with in the genre's so-called Golden Age... like a good cabinet maker, Haddam knows exactly how to cut and polish her material into art." -- "Chicago"" Tribune"
""
" Fans of Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian mystery stories will be pleased that the celebrated FBI agent is back to crack another case... intelligently written and well-paced... Haddam handles multiple murders and complex story lines in a masterful way that makes this tale a worthwhile read." -- "Indianapolis"" Star"

About the Author

JANE HADDAM is the author of many previous novels, most featuring Gregor Demarkian, as well as numerous articles and stories published widely. Her novels have been finalists for both the Edgar and Anthony Awards. She lives with her family in Litchfield Country, Connecticut.