The Crazy School by Cornelia Read (Review and a Ramble)

Publication Date: January, 2008

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Genre: Mystery (Amateur Sleuth)

Why I Chose It: Another random library find; it caught my eye because of the title. :) I grabbed it because of my weakness for mysteries with amateur sleuths and because, perusing the first few pages of the prequel, A Field of Darkness, the author's style caught my fancy.

Rating: (4/5 Stars)

 I'm curious about what readers think of the new format of my book reviews. I thought this would include a bit more relevant information. Also, since I tend to write relatively long reviews, with excerpts to offer examples of the author's writing, I thought the synopsis might be a good option for readers who prefer reading reviews that are more concise. Opinions?? :)

Synopsis of My Review:

Madeline Dare and her husband, Dean, have finally left his native land, in the rust belt of Syracuse, New York, and moved to the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Maddie becomes a history teacher at Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for emotionally disturbed teenagers.  This bizarre institution forces a sort of milieu therapy -- if you want to dignify it by calling it "therapy" -- on the staff as well as the clients. And its treatment of its young clients crosses the line into abusive and bizarre.

Maddie is appalled to see her fellow teachers led by Dr. Santangelo's strange blend of charisma and intimidation -- they turn on each instead of standing up for themselves and protecting the vulnerable students in their care. After a tragic event, trusting only her frustrated and bewildered husband, her friend Lulu, and several of the academy's troubled and rebellious students, Maddie digs for the truth.
 
This is the second novel in Read's Madeline Dare series, which began with A Field of Darkness. This is a character-driven mystery series, and for me, Madeline is the real hook. She's my kind of heroine: confused and vulnerable as well as tough and edgy.  It's also a solid mystery. The kind I like, with an intriguing "whodunnit," red herrings, and an intrepid sleuth. Read's mysteries rate among my current favorites, and I look forward to finishing the series.

Full Review: 

Madeline Dare and her husband, Dean, have finally left his native land, in the rust belt of Syracuse, New York, and moved to the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. Maddie becomes a history teacher at Santangelo Academy, a boarding school for emotionally disturbed teenagers.  This bizarre institution forces a sort of milieu therapy -- if you want to dignify it by calling it "therapy" -- on the staff as well as the clients. And its treatment of its young clients crosses the line into abusive and bizarre.

Maddie is appalled to see her fellow teachers led by Dr. Santangelo's strange blend of charisma and intimidation -- they turn on each instead of standing up for themselves and protecting the vulnerable students in their care. After a tragic event, trusting only her frustrated and bewildered husband, her friend Lulu, and several of the academy's troubled and rebellious students, Maddie digs for the truth.
 
This is the second novel in Read's Madeline Dare series, which began with A Field of Darkness. This is a character-driven mystery series, and for me, Madeline is the real hook. She's my kind of heroine: confused and vulnerable as well as tough and edgy. Her conversations with her history students offer an opportunity to explore Madeline's off-beat childhood, based on the author's own history. She was born into the last generation of an old, wealthy WASP family and raised by divorced hippie-renegade parents. Her childhood memories included single moms, exploited farm workers, draft dodgers, and Black Panthers. And while my background is very different -- no old WASP money and fewer hippies and radicals -- I identify with Madeline. I relate to her combination of compassionate strength and confused vulnerability, her progressive political leanings, and her edgy sense of humor. I also enjoyed Madeline's rapport with and evident compassion for her students.

The premise -- a dysfunctional school for troubled teens -- definitely helped piqued my interest in this book. I spent years working as a counselor with "emotionally disturbed" and "at risk" youth. Between that and being the mom of a kid on the autism spectrum and a child with severe mental illness, I have plenty of opinions about so-called care for needy youth and families. Believe me. 

There were moments when the events in the Santangelo school might have felt over the top, even given the suspension of disbelief that goes with reading mysteries. However, to convince myself this wasn't too far in left field, I only needed to look back at some of my own experiences. Treating children and teens, especially those with "differences," as unworthy of respect is sadly all too common. Almost mundane.

Of course, there are also issues I've read about. Like the case of Rotenberg Educational Center in Massachusetts which recently hit the media, where electric shock is regularly used on students with autism. Not to mention revelations about the recently discredited Bruno Bettleheim, the untrained psychoanalytic "genius" who convinced generations of "experts" that autism is caused by cold, unresponsive mothering. Granted, his work was in the past, but his school for disturbed youth -- which has been revealed to have subjected students to physical and emotional abuse -- still has defenders. There are plenty of other stories about therapeutic schools and the special education system. I'll stop now.

Compared to all that, the events at Santangelo Academy are not only believable but incredibly tame. And I need only re-read my friends' reviews of Compliance to be reminded that people will go to extraordinary lengths to comply with perceived authority figures.

While the characters are what I found most engaging, this is also a solid mystery. The kind I like, with an intriguing "whodunnit," red herrings, and an intrepid and often floundering sleuth. Read's mysteries rate among my current favorites, and I look forward to finishing the series.

Other Reviews: Lesa's Book Critiques; Joanne at The Book Zombie; Casey at Bookworm 4 Life; Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists; Semicolon

A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read

In the end there may not be much more to the special gift of aristocrats than the old image of casual grace.... Worse, the image can’t seem to stand by itself. Its light must have a field of darkness, some dull impasto of despair with a glint of violence flashing through. Without fear, the image lacks shape and substance, and dissolves into a pale, thin air of American possibility. With it, the image comes clear, and so does the gift of courage.  Nelson Aldrich, Old Money (quoted in A Field of Darkness)

Madeline Dare was reared in an aristocratic New York family, with a legacy of robber barons and entrepreneurs who made their fortune desecrating the environment. She feels revulsion for their ruthlessness and snobbery and a slight nostalgia for their fading way of life, which seems to be lifted from the novels of Fitzgerald and Wharton. Now her branch of the family is essentially penniless -- "my money is so old there's none left."

Madeline is happily married and unhappily settled near her husband's family in Syracuse. She works, for a pittance, as a journalist, writing about tourist sites and recipes. She struggles with her obnoxious boss and periods of loneliness while her husband Dean, a railroad employee, is working in Canada.

Her life changes dramatically when her father-in-law tells her about a set of dog tags he found, on his land, at the site of a brutal murder that took place in 1969. Two young women were killed and left lying side by side with their heads wreathed in roses. The dog tags seem to link the bizarre crime to Madeline's favorite cousin, Lapthorne.

Before deciding whether to turn this evidence over to the police, Madeline needs to be sure Lapthorne wasn't involved. Her investigation leads her from the "rust belt" in upstate New York to the posh mansions of Long Island's Gold Coast, her family's ancestral home.

I stumbled upon this novel, quite by accident, while browsing the library shelves. A book titled The Crazy School caught my eye  -- how could I resist a title like that? A Field of Darkness happened to be the prequel, so I picked it up and perused it. I can never resist a good mystery, and this one looked intriguing.

The author hooked me, on the first page, with her vivid, eloquent descriptive writing.

The first night was already hot, so still the whine of the neighbor's dog carried right through our bedroom window. I heard a screen door yaw wide to let him out, the tired spring slapping it closed behind, the click of canine toes on sidewalk. 

This novel also captured my attention with beautiful writing, sharp wit, and -- most importantly -- the interesting, unique voice of the protagonist. Madeline is my kind of heroine. She's smart, funny, loyal, and kind. She also struggles with loneliness, guilt, insecurity, and a mountain of family dysfunction. 

Becoming an amateur sleuth doesn't come naturally to her. But she's armed with loyalty and persistence, and she manages to find help from myriad sources, including a former cop and ex-Vietnam vet who now runs a seedy bar, her long-time best friend; who calls Madeline "wild woman;" and a slightly shady auctioneer with a warm heart and a history of suffering at the hands of the Nazis. 

It was not too difficult to guess the identity of the perpetrator. However, the mystery was well crafted and intriguing, with a few twists to keep me guessing. I also enjoyed the flawed but loving relationship between Madeline and Dean, the ideological differences between Madeline and the politically conservative residents of Syracuse, and the humor throughout the novel.

     "It's an open shop, says so right here in the contract. (Dean said) This isn't work they can do, and they're trying to screw me out of a living, The union can suck my dick."
     I wanted to weigh in with Cesar Chavez, the Haymarket riots, to point out that unions benefited us all, raised he bar for everyone. But I knew part of my vehemence was family guilt for screwing over the "working man" in the abstract, while here was an actual and specific working man who had an opinion of his own, thank you very much."
     Plus, we'd had the same argument like twenty times already over the years, starting with a heated dinner conversation on our third date.
     So I just carried the dishes to the sink, not even turning on the kitchen light. And then I started to cry because what the hell was I pissed at him for, when he could have been hurt or even died -- the stupid heartrendingly dear scab fascist shithead.

I enjoyed this novel, and I missed Madeline's company a bit when the book ended. I will definitely read the rest of the Madeline Dare series, and I look forward to seeing how these characters develop through this amateur sleuth's continuing adventures.

Other Reviews: In Which Our Hero; Chaotic Compendiums; Reviewing the Evidence; MBTB's Mystery Book Blog

Rating: 4.5

5- Cherished Favorite	4 - Keep in My Library	3 - Good Read	2 - Meh	1 - Definitely Not For Me