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I’ve been doing a lot of short-hop flights….about forty minutes in the air each way. On longer flights, I catch upon favorite TV shows on my IPod….but on shorter ones, I just read. This morning, I was so disappointed that we arrived right on time…because it meant I had to put my book down!

I was reading The Crazy School by Cornelia Read. It was one of those books that began on the slow side, maybe because I hadn’t read Read’s 1st book A Field of Darkness, but by Chapter Three, I was hooked. I had begun it on Monday…and was reading it at every opportunity: in my hotel after work, during breaks at work, and at restaurants as I ate.

The heroine, Madeline Dare, is teaching at a boarding school for troubled kids. It wasn’t the choice of jobs, but she took what she could get….and while the working conditions aren’t the best, she really wants to help out the kids. When two of the kids die…and Madeline becomes the prime suspect….things get….dicey. Is Dr. Santangelo actually helping these students with his odd practices and heavy medications? Or is there something more sinister going on? With the support of her husband, her attorney, her friend LuLu and some of the kids, she gets to the bottom of the murder….and discovers secrets about everyone…..and everything.

I loved Madeline. She was spunky and incredibly funny. She reminds me of a grown-up Trixie Belden, if Trixie turned out to be a coffee drinking gal with a nicotine habit The cast of characters - the other school employees, the students, and her attorney are all individualistic voices, interacting and adding to the depth of The Crazy School. I also enjoyed seeing how events unfolded, how those around her interact with her, and the final twist….

If you are looking for something to keep you on the edge of your seat, keep you chuckling, and make you root for the heroine, look no further than Crazy School by Cornelia Read. Next trip to the bookstore will have me looking for the first Madeline Dare novel…and I’m looking forward to her next adventure…..

Posted by Deb in Arts: Books, Music & Movies |

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Arts: Books, Music & Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.