Coup de Grace - Softcover

Grace Carpentier rules the French department at Miss Merritt's school with an iron hand. Feared by her students and grudgingly respected by her colleagues, the formidable lady finds herself at the center of a murder investigation when another teacher who has unwittingly borrowed Mme. Carpentier's distinctive black cape garment is murdered on the grounds of the exclusive prep school in what is surely a case of mistaken identity. Or is it? Sarah Deane, the proud owner of a brand new Ph.D. in English literature, who has accepted a temporary teaching position at Miss Merritt's, isn't so sure. And her experience as an amateur detective (most recently in Bodies of Water) leads her unerringly into the path of danger as she sets out to do a little snooping of her own in this charming cozy, the 10th entry in the popular series. As usual, the author sets a fine scene; the details of boarding school life are carefully limned, right down to the décor in the students' rooms and the petty politics of academic life. The characters are well drawn, from the rakish Italian teacher and the former lover of the mistakenly murdered teacher to the lively girls in the dorm who enlist Sarah as their confidante when suspicion falls on one of their own. Fans of the Amanda Cross mysteries, another series featuring a pedagogical sleuth, will enjoy Borthwick's appealing protagonist, and look forward to her next adventure. --Jane Adams

"Always witty, sometimes facical, full of wonderfuuly arcane allusions to old movies, this novel succeeds as a tightly controlled and unflagging thriller." Publishers Weekly