Rating: 
Summary: 4.5 stars
Review: My only complaint about the book is the simple story does not really seem to merit as many as 290+ pages the book contains. As a result of this, the story seems to drag a bit in the middle, where the author became a bit rhetorical about how the characters were being trapped and longed for freedom. He seemed to have tried to hammer the message into the readers' heads a bit too hard.But over all, it's a very good book. It's actually not so much a suspenseful mystery as a simple but compelling story about the folly of life. By letting the readers witness the whole incident through the eyes of the adolescent Henry Griswald, Cook somehow makes us grow with Henry and learn a lesson with Henry: The more you try to defy, the more you will get hurt in the end; the more arrogant you let yourself be, the more stupid you will eventually feel. The main theme of the book is well echoed by people's testimonies in the court raising nothing but circumstantial evidence against Channing and Reed. The jurors, and probably the readers as well, were encouraged to link all the dots in whatever way they pleased. Some tried to eagerly link the dots they saw with their wildest imaginations, seeing an exotic picture behind. But more often than not, the TRUE picture might be nothing more than just a mundane drawing of the most mediocre quality. Recognizing this humbling truth is the core of the mystery of the book. In return, the mysterious way the truth is revealed makes this truth all the more compelling.
Rating: 
Summary: Not just a mystery...
Review: Mystery novels are not exactly my piece of cake, so I was delighted to see that this book I picked up by chance turned out to be much more. It's an impressing and psychologically believable tale of love and responsibility. Time and place were captivated masterfully by the author, and the structure of the book kept just the right amount of suspense to the very end. The atmosphere is overall quite melancholy, and towards the climax the book gets a bit painful to read, but it's not a bad thing if a simple story can really make you *feel* something. My only complainment is the obligatory "surprise" in the end; it is surprising, alright, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the concept of the book. Seems to me the author just wanted to keep his book within the boundaries of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: A superbly crafted, well-written mystery.
Review: Not only a delightful mystery, but a well-written, thoughtful, psychological thriller. I look forward to reading more of Thomas Cook.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Books I Have Ever Read
Review: One cannot be prepared for one's first Thomas H Cook book. It is a unique, disturbing, and edifying experience. Told in the first person by "Henry," who looks back on tragic events of long ago, the story moves slowly, agonizingly, with gathering shadows and dark portents. There are certain stories - books and movies - that seem to define the reader/viewer. I have, for instance, asked many people what the movie "Midnight Cowboy" was about and I have never had anywhere near the same definition twice. This book is like that. It plumbs the minds, spirits, and emotions of its characters, evokes tingling suspense, and fulfills its haunting promise with an ending that you will never forget. Not for "action" readers, but so very very rewarding for those of us who look for excellent writing, plotting, and "something different." It will leave and indelible mark in your reading-mind.
Rating:
Summary: One Of The Best Books I Have Ever Read
Review: One cannot be prepared for one's first Thomas H Cook book. It is a unique, disturbing, and edifying experience. Told in the first person by "Henry," who looks back on tragic events of long ago, the story moves slowly, agonizingly, with gathering shadows and dark portents. There are certain stories - books and movies - that seem to define the reader/viewer. I have, for instance, asked many people what the movie "Midnight Cowboy" was about and I have never had anywhere near the same definition twice. This book is like that. It plumbs the minds, spirits, and emotions of its characters, evokes tingling suspense, and fulfills its haunting promise with an ending that you will never forget. Not for "action" readers, but so very very rewarding for those of us who look for excellent writing, plotting, and "something different." It will leave and indelible mark in your reading-mind.
Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding...Top Shelf Material
Review: One of the best books of its genre that I have ever read. Cook weaves an unforgettable plot that makes the book hard to put down. This is more a psychological mystery than a murder mystery. As another reviewer put it, The Chatham School Affair is a work of art.
Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding But Deceptive
Review: Perhaps I have become desensitized, but I found the novel to be misleading; Cook spends a great deal of time foreshadowing a tragic, haunting event that ends up seeming anticlimactic; I expected something far more sinister. The preview outshines the work itself. I did enjoy reading it, however; Cook's style is soft, understated, and utterly mesmerizing, perfect for late night reading. His style flows and drifts into the subconscious; it's alluring prose, even if it leads to a less than riveting conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting tragedy much like a cello concerto
Review: Remarkable book; the real tragedy only becomes clear at the end. Beautiful, evocative writing.
Rating:
Summary: Crime and Punishment
Review: Seven decades later, old Henry Griswald looks back on the defining experience of his life - the tragedy known to the people of his town as the Chatham School Affair. A young woman and a married man, teachers at the school of which his father was principal, had fallen in love. It was an era in which a woman could be sent to prison for the crime of adultery, and the beautiful Miss Channing, strong willed, cultivated and empathetic, did not easily fit in to a town and a school where conventions are not lightly flouted. The teenaged Henry Griswald, chafing with adolescent angst against what he perceives to be the repressiveness of his life and the society in which he lives, projects his own romantic longings on the doomed couple. What results is a tragedy of errors in which revenge, madness and murder are the inevitable result. The point of this novel is not the plot, which is simple and I would venture to say deliberately predictable, but the gradual revelation of character in the main actors in the drama. An impressive performance that richly deserves the Edgar for Best Novel.
Rating: 
Summary: The Chatham School Affair
Review: Surprises as the story unfolds
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