The Affliction: A Novel (Maggie Detweiler and Hope Babbin) - Hardcover

Who killed the too-talkative teacher?

Unlikely investigators Maggie Detweiler and Hope Babbin are just the characters to unmask a murderer in this clever romp of a mystery series by New York Times bestselling author Beth Gutcheon

Since retiring as the longtime head of a famous New York City private school, Maggie Detweiler is busier than ever. Chairing a team to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for Girls, she will determine whether, despite its fabled past, the school nestled in a picturesque Hudson River town has a future at all. With so much on the line for so many, tensions on campus are at an excruciating pitch, and Maggie expects to be as welcome as a case of the Ebola virus.

At a reception for the faculty and trustees to “welcome” Maggie’s team, no one seems keener for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected despite her affliction—she can’t stop talking.

Florence is one of those dedicated teachers for whom the school is her life, and yet the following morning, when Maggie arrives to observe her class, Florence is missing. Florence’s husband, an auxiliary policeman in the village, seems more annoyed than alarmed at her disappearance. But Florence’s sister is distraught. There have been tensions in the marriage, and during their last visit, Florence had warned, “If anything happens to me, don’t assume it’s an accident.”

Two days later, Florence’s body is found in the campus swimming pool.

Maggie is asked to stay on campus to coach the very young and inexperienced head of Rye Manor through the crisis. Maggie obviously knows schools, but she also knows something about investigating murder, having solved a mysterious death in Maine the previous year when the police went after the wrong suspect. She is soon joined by her madcap socialite friend, Hope, who is jonesing for an excuse to ditch her book club anyway, before she actually has to read Silas Marner.

What on earth is going on in this idyllic town that seems to have more than its share of secrets? Is this a garden-variety marital murder? Or does the killing have something to do with a school trustee’s real-estate schemes? And what is up with the vicious cyberbullying that’s unsettled the students, or with the disturbed teenage boy whom Florence had made a pet of? Is it possible that someone killed Florence just so she’d finally shut up?

Inspired by Beth Gutcheon’s love of Charles Dickens—who sets the standard for stories blending dark intrigue with social comedy—The Affliction is a sophisticated and charming delight.

Beth Gutcheon is the critically acclaimed author of the novels, The New Girls, Still Missing, Domestic Pleasures, Saying Grace, Five Fortunes, More Than You Know, Leeway Cottage, and Good-bye and Amen. She is the writer of several film scripts, including the Academy-Award nominee The Children of Theatre Street. She lives in New York City.