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The Twisted Thread
When beautiful but aloof Claire Harkness is found dead in her dorm room one spring morning, prestigious Armitage Academy is shaken to its core. Everyone connected to school, and to Claire, finds their lives upended, from the local police detective who has a personal history with the academy, to the various faculty and staff whose lives are immersed in the daily rituals associated with it.
Everyone wants to know how Claire died, at whose hands, and more importantly, where the baby that she recently gave birth to is a baby that almost no one, except her small innermost circle, knew she was carrying.
At the center of the investigation is Madeline Christopher, an intern in the English department who is forced to examine the nature of the relationship between the school's students and the adults meant to guide them. As the case unravels, the dark intricacies of adolescent privilege at a powerful institution are exposed, and both teachers and students emerge as suspects as the novel rushes to its thrilling conclusion.
With The Twisted Thread, Charlotte Bacon has crafted a gripping and suspenseful story in the tradition of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, one that pulls back the curtain on the lives of the young and privileged.
Everyone wants to know how Claire died, at whose hands, and more importantly, where the baby that she recently gave birth to is a baby that almost no one, except her small innermost circle, knew she was carrying.
At the center of the investigation is Madeline Christopher, an intern in the English department who is forced to examine the nature of the relationship between the school's students and the adults meant to guide them. As the case unravels, the dark intricacies of adolescent privilege at a powerful institution are exposed, and both teachers and students emerge as suspects as the novel rushes to its thrilling conclusion.
With The Twisted Thread, Charlotte Bacon has crafted a gripping and suspenseful story in the tradition of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, one that pulls back the curtain on the lives of the young and privileged.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
25 people are currently reading
1647 people want to read
About the author
Charlotte Bacon
14books35followersI first started writing when I was a counselor in a halfway house after college and I had a colleague who always wrote, "Things just fine," in the log we used to track the states of mind of our clients. Given that they were all chronically mentally ill, 'things just fine' was a bit misleading. I started trying to use the small space we had to capture what I saw and discovered the power of clear description. I've always balanced writing with other pursuits: traveling, teaching, and now, being a mother to three kids. Those activities aren't separate for me; everything I engage in influences everything else. Words are the place where I filter what I see and think, the place I have to make things stick.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 187 reviews
May 3, 2020
this book is fine. it is another one of those secret history knockoffs i can't seem to get enough of, even though they are usually underwhelming.
this is a multi-perspective novel, where a bunch of characters are allowed to discover different elements of the background story of a young rich girl found murrrrrderrrrred in her boarding-school dorm room, where she has recently given birth to a secret baby. but where is the baby?? who's its daddy? how did she die? what dark secrets does this school have in its past?? why are there so many storylines? does every book need at least two love triangles? why does carol goodman blurb every book that claims to be like secret history? why do i keep reading these??
it's fine; it's just not a home run. it may have been better to pare down the scope of the novel somewhat; some of the plot-flaps seem irrelevant, and some characters do not get enough development because the POV keeps shifting. and then some of the characters seem to have been written just to tangentially introduce other characters - it gets a bit sloppy. i'm not sure if the secondary storylines were supposed to be distractions from the main plot, or red herrings, or what, but at least of them seem totally inconsequential. i say "why"?
but it was a good train-ride book - it was much better than watching yonkers zip by at night. people who like learning dirty little secrets of the rich and idle will probably diggit, and it is a fine mystery; i just think there were some glitches in its transmission. but people who are as sleepy as i am right now shouldn't write book reports.
this is a multi-perspective novel, where a bunch of characters are allowed to discover different elements of the background story of a young rich girl found murrrrrderrrrred in her boarding-school dorm room, where she has recently given birth to a secret baby. but where is the baby?? who's its daddy? how did she die? what dark secrets does this school have in its past?? why are there so many storylines? does every book need at least two love triangles? why does carol goodman blurb every book that claims to be like secret history? why do i keep reading these??
it's fine; it's just not a home run. it may have been better to pare down the scope of the novel somewhat; some of the plot-flaps seem irrelevant, and some characters do not get enough development because the POV keeps shifting. and then some of the characters seem to have been written just to tangentially introduce other characters - it gets a bit sloppy. i'm not sure if the secondary storylines were supposed to be distractions from the main plot, or red herrings, or what, but at least of them seem totally inconsequential. i say "why"?
but it was a good train-ride book - it was much better than watching yonkers zip by at night. people who like learning dirty little secrets of the rich and idle will probably diggit, and it is a fine mystery; i just think there were some glitches in its transmission. but people who are as sleepy as i am right now shouldn't write book reports.
August 28, 2011
I liked it, but it was disappointing. Several things felt unresolved and I hate it when the killer turns out to be someone the detectives never even interviewed, that we as an audience have not met. I really hate that! Maybe the guy was at least casually mentioned, but the solution felt cheap and unsatisfying. And what was the deal with the secretary? I admit to skimming a bit towards the end, but I don't remember anything that would explain why she was invested to such a degree that she would assault someone to not be caught paper shredding, in itself not that suspicious. And she was saying she had the boy and begging that guy to help her? Unresolved. And the stuff with the secret society just turned out to be typical mean girl stuff. Maybe that was the point, but it could have been more, I think, and more interesting. I also found Claire's motivations to be less than adequate. What, she was going to prove hypocrisy by the evidence that a teenage boy got her pregnant? So what. Even if he is the headmaster's son, the knowledge that he has been sexually active would hardly surprise anyone. And it was revenge because he broke up with her mom 20 years ago? I guess she blames him for her unstable parenting situation in some way, but even for an angry teenager the logic is muddled to the point of absurdity.
I did overall like it, mostly. Will give the author a 2nd chance because I am always looking for good mystery books, and not finding them.
I did overall like it, mostly. Will give the author a 2nd chance because I am always looking for good mystery books, and not finding them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2012
May I begin by saying wow? The Twisted Thread exceeded my every expectation; from plot to characters, this book is spot on. I have to say that I’m not usually a big fan of mysteries (sure I went through a Joanne Fluke faze, but that was more about the cookies than the murders). The Twisted Thread, however, does not emphasis the “murder mystery� aspect so much as the impact that the murder has on the lives of the people involved with Armitage. While the investigation into Claire’s murder does proceed throughout the novel, the writing holds a certain air of literariness that seems to pull it out of the ranks of “mystery� and place it somewhere closer to a Jodi Picoult novel.
The chapters revolve around four main characters, Madeline, the English teacher who seems to do more sleuthing than the police officers, Fred, the art teacher who wants more art and a little less teaching, Jim, the middle aged and divorced maintenance man who looks after his aging mother, and Matt, the police officer and former Armitage student who is forced to revisit unpleasant memories when Claire turns up dead. The real beauty of this story is the complex web woven between all of the characters, the way their stories all come together and break apart. This method of storytelling allows the reader to experience the novel in the fullest, most fulfilling way possible. Each character brings their own set of experiences, thoughts, and insecurities to the story, creating what I have now dubbed, the uber subplot. I truly enjoy the fact that each character has their own story that unfolds simultaneously to the major plot � this obviously being the ongoing murder investigation.
Now on to my one complaint (you knew that was coming, didn’t you). This book has no AHA! moment. I don’t just mean the moment where you find out who the murderer was and all that jazz. Even if you guessed who the murderer was half way through the book (which I did), there should still be a moment where all of the pieces click perfectly into place and everything becomes crystal clear. (For example, my favorite AHA! moment of all time is when Harry Potter discovers the existence of the Deathly Hallows and suddenly everything makes sense, even the title. In other words, the book’s universe has to align and converge into one perfect moment of clarity that alters the course of the novel). Charlotte Bacon tries to create this moment, but falls short � she had some twisted threads, so to speak. Really, the main problem is that she forgot to put the gun she wanted to use in the last act on the table during the first. The introduction of completely new information without hints preceding it deflates the AHA! moment and makes it more of a “well…okay� moment.
The big picture: The Twisted Thread is a good, thought-provoking novel with character development that warmed the cockles of my heart. I hate, hate, hate underdeveloped characters (I’m looking at you Stephenie Meyer).
The chapters revolve around four main characters, Madeline, the English teacher who seems to do more sleuthing than the police officers, Fred, the art teacher who wants more art and a little less teaching, Jim, the middle aged and divorced maintenance man who looks after his aging mother, and Matt, the police officer and former Armitage student who is forced to revisit unpleasant memories when Claire turns up dead. The real beauty of this story is the complex web woven between all of the characters, the way their stories all come together and break apart. This method of storytelling allows the reader to experience the novel in the fullest, most fulfilling way possible. Each character brings their own set of experiences, thoughts, and insecurities to the story, creating what I have now dubbed, the uber subplot. I truly enjoy the fact that each character has their own story that unfolds simultaneously to the major plot � this obviously being the ongoing murder investigation.
Now on to my one complaint (you knew that was coming, didn’t you). This book has no AHA! moment. I don’t just mean the moment where you find out who the murderer was and all that jazz. Even if you guessed who the murderer was half way through the book (which I did), there should still be a moment where all of the pieces click perfectly into place and everything becomes crystal clear. (For example, my favorite AHA! moment of all time is when Harry Potter discovers the existence of the Deathly Hallows and suddenly everything makes sense, even the title. In other words, the book’s universe has to align and converge into one perfect moment of clarity that alters the course of the novel). Charlotte Bacon tries to create this moment, but falls short � she had some twisted threads, so to speak. Really, the main problem is that she forgot to put the gun she wanted to use in the last act on the table during the first. The introduction of completely new information without hints preceding it deflates the AHA! moment and makes it more of a “well…okay� moment.
The big picture: The Twisted Thread is a good, thought-provoking novel with character development that warmed the cockles of my heart. I hate, hate, hate underdeveloped characters (I’m looking at you Stephenie Meyer).
March 5, 2025
The Dark Halls of Armitage: A Disappointing Dance with Death
You had me at "secret society of murderous prep school girls."
I mean, really - what more could a thriller lover want? Elite boarding school? Check. Underground society of privileged teens playing dangerous games? Check. A dead girl, a missing baby, and enough dark secrets to fill those mahogany-lined halls? Sign me up and lock the doors.
But like finding out the cool kids' table isn't actually that cool, this book left me standing awkwardly in the cafeteria, lunch tray in hand, wondering where it all went wrong.
The story opens promisingly enough. Our protagonist, Madeline - who's somehow landed a teaching gig despite barely being older than her students - arrives at the prestigious Armitage School. Before she can even learn which bathroom the teachers use, one of her students, Claire, turns up dead in her dorm room. Plot twist: Claire had recently given birth, a secret known to only a select few. Double plot twist: the baby's nowhere to be found. Triple plot twist: Claire was supposedly running a secret society that makes Mean Girls look like a kindergarten playdate.
Sounds amazing, right? That's what I thought, too. But then the author decided to introduce what felt like the entire student body, complete with their family trees, zodiac signs, and favorite breakfast cereals. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but not by much. I spent more time flipping back through pages trying to remember who's who than actually enjoying the mystery. Was Sarah the one with the tragic backstory, or was that Sophie? Wait, who's Samantha? By page 100, I needed a spreadsheet just to keep track.
The real crime here isn't the murder - it's how the heart of the story (you know, the whole dead-girl-missing-baby situation) gets buried under an avalanche of unnecessary character backgrounds. The mystery finally resurfaces in the last 40 pages like a swimmer gasping for air, but by then, I was too exhausted from keeping track of everyone's childhood trauma to fully appreciate it.
I will say this: the ending caught me completely off guard. The real killer wasn't even on my radar, which would have been more impressive if I hadn't been so distracted by the life story of every student who ever walked through Armitage's gates.
You had me at "secret society of murderous prep school girls."
I mean, really - what more could a thriller lover want? Elite boarding school? Check. Underground society of privileged teens playing dangerous games? Check. A dead girl, a missing baby, and enough dark secrets to fill those mahogany-lined halls? Sign me up and lock the doors.
But like finding out the cool kids' table isn't actually that cool, this book left me standing awkwardly in the cafeteria, lunch tray in hand, wondering where it all went wrong.
The story opens promisingly enough. Our protagonist, Madeline - who's somehow landed a teaching gig despite barely being older than her students - arrives at the prestigious Armitage School. Before she can even learn which bathroom the teachers use, one of her students, Claire, turns up dead in her dorm room. Plot twist: Claire had recently given birth, a secret known to only a select few. Double plot twist: the baby's nowhere to be found. Triple plot twist: Claire was supposedly running a secret society that makes Mean Girls look like a kindergarten playdate.
Sounds amazing, right? That's what I thought, too. But then the author decided to introduce what felt like the entire student body, complete with their family trees, zodiac signs, and favorite breakfast cereals. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but not by much. I spent more time flipping back through pages trying to remember who's who than actually enjoying the mystery. Was Sarah the one with the tragic backstory, or was that Sophie? Wait, who's Samantha? By page 100, I needed a spreadsheet just to keep track.
The real crime here isn't the murder - it's how the heart of the story (you know, the whole dead-girl-missing-baby situation) gets buried under an avalanche of unnecessary character backgrounds. The mystery finally resurfaces in the last 40 pages like a swimmer gasping for air, but by then, I was too exhausted from keeping track of everyone's childhood trauma to fully appreciate it.
I will say this: the ending caught me completely off guard. The real killer wasn't even on my radar, which would have been more impressive if I hadn't been so distracted by the life story of every student who ever walked through Armitage's gates.
August 17, 2011
Charlotte Bacon's The Twisted Thread started out so strong for me. The story of a popular teen girl found dead in her room at the prestigious Armitage boarding school, and the mystery of how she died and who took her newborn baby had so much potential, with writing that was so perceptive, such as this:
"Being responsible for the transmission of American literature to four classes of intelligent, slouching adolescents sometimes struck Madeline as a task more ludicrous than ending dependence on foreign oil."
and
"She hated this sensation, the knowledge, only half-admitted most of the time, that the world could crack wide at any moment, and that you would never, despite wit, fiscal prudence, or luck be entirely prepared for what might happen next."
I liked the characters of Madeline, the young teacher at the school and Matt, a police officer who attended Armitage years ago. I also liked Matt's cop partner, Vernon, the formerly-overweight, now-health-conscious family man. If the story had focused on these characters and the mystery of what happened to the dead girl, it would have been a pretty good book.
Unfortunately, the author introduces too many characters, along with their back stories, which instead of deepening the plot, at times took away from it and confused me. There is the maintenance man, his mother, his boss, many, many teachers at the school, and a clique of mean girls. It was hard to keep characters straight, and many times I had to stop and ask myself, "wait- who is this again?"
There were too many subplots that went nowhere. As I got to the end of the story, some of the threads came together and the resolution was ultimately satisfying, but the author would have had a much better book if she concentrated on only a few of the voices. She had a lot to say about privilege, class, family and the culture of private schools, but it sometimes got drowned out by too much noise.
"Being responsible for the transmission of American literature to four classes of intelligent, slouching adolescents sometimes struck Madeline as a task more ludicrous than ending dependence on foreign oil."
and
"She hated this sensation, the knowledge, only half-admitted most of the time, that the world could crack wide at any moment, and that you would never, despite wit, fiscal prudence, or luck be entirely prepared for what might happen next."
I liked the characters of Madeline, the young teacher at the school and Matt, a police officer who attended Armitage years ago. I also liked Matt's cop partner, Vernon, the formerly-overweight, now-health-conscious family man. If the story had focused on these characters and the mystery of what happened to the dead girl, it would have been a pretty good book.
Unfortunately, the author introduces too many characters, along with their back stories, which instead of deepening the plot, at times took away from it and confused me. There is the maintenance man, his mother, his boss, many, many teachers at the school, and a clique of mean girls. It was hard to keep characters straight, and many times I had to stop and ask myself, "wait- who is this again?"
There were too many subplots that went nowhere. As I got to the end of the story, some of the threads came together and the resolution was ultimately satisfying, but the author would have had a much better book if she concentrated on only a few of the voices. She had a lot to say about privilege, class, family and the culture of private schools, but it sometimes got drowned out by too much noise.
June 19, 2012
When I saw this at a bookstore while on vacation the back had me intrigued. I thought it would be a fun to read and interesting story, but when it came down to it I was plain and simply not a fan of this book. Well let me rephrase, not a fan of the author or the book. Bacon's writing style drove me nuts the entire book. I pretty much only finished out of a need to not have anymore half read books on my shelf. It would be easy to say the problem with this book is... but it's not that simple. I felt that there were several issues that only built to make me dislike the book altogether. First, it seems like this book never knew what genre it wanted to be. Murder mystery? Drama? Suspense? Well in reality, none of the above... ok maybe a little drama. Second. The characters. Third... well the list goes on and on. But the book never had a true direction. I felt like she was trying to hard to come across as an intelligent crime mystery, but she didn't seem to spend a lot of time talking about the actual crime. It was more about feelings or emotions. Or random stories that had very little to do with the actual main story. Plus what drove me nuts was how little you actually cared about the characters. She gave them nothing that would make you a. want to relate to them, or b. care what happens to them. It is very uncommon for me to read a book and feel so utterly relieved to have it finished... only because I could put it away and never think about it again. Definitely something I would not recommend to anyone.
April 5, 2014
Intrigued by the publisher's comparison to Donna Tartt's The Secret History, I prepared myself for a letdown and that's what I received. The remote connection between The Twisted Thread and The Secret History is that they both involve murder at a prestigious New England school. But where Donna Tartt takes her novel into the exploration of the human capacity for evil with believable, captivating characters, Charlotte Bacon delivers a run-of-the-mill murder mystery complete with stale writing, endless exposition and a killer the reader can see from miles away. Two fatal flaws in mysteries for me are a suspect whom the author thinks she's cleverly hidden but I'm able to point out from the moment he is introduced and a too-tidy of an ending complete with reality-challenging information dump by the detective where everything is revealed. This book commits both of those crimes. It's a shame because the story is somewhat interesting, a student at a prep school having been murdered and the baby she recently gave birth to (though no one at the school knew she was pregnant) gone missing. The cheesy, moralistic After School Special denouement of the town kids coming onto campus and meeting the rich school kids just adds insult to the injuries inflicted by the book. I wanted to like this more, but the flaws I've pointed out really detracted from my enjoyment.
June 13, 2011
2.5 Stars
The Twisted Thread offers promising snippets for a murder mystery wrought with scandal but fails to serve up the excitement and suspense that most readers seek from the genre. Barrages of characters are introduced in the beginning and keep on coming. Details are given in a redundant fashion, which only adds to the confusion of mentally managing characters. Each character comes with a background and appears to have equal weight and importance, which can be a unique writing structure, but in this case had me wondering whose story was it anyways? There is supposed to be a shift in voice when a different character’s (perspective) is given, but I did not ‘hear� enough deflection in tone to buy it. I was not convinced that any person besides the narrator (author) was telling or recanting the story. Although, there are sympathetic hints and moments, I’m afraid my opinion about the characters that formed during the initial introduction did not change by the end. The stereotypical description was obvious and over-played and because of this, I found the story slow and blasé.
The Twisted Thread offers promising snippets for a murder mystery wrought with scandal but fails to serve up the excitement and suspense that most readers seek from the genre. Barrages of characters are introduced in the beginning and keep on coming. Details are given in a redundant fashion, which only adds to the confusion of mentally managing characters. Each character comes with a background and appears to have equal weight and importance, which can be a unique writing structure, but in this case had me wondering whose story was it anyways? There is supposed to be a shift in voice when a different character’s (perspective) is given, but I did not ‘hear� enough deflection in tone to buy it. I was not convinced that any person besides the narrator (author) was telling or recanting the story. Although, there are sympathetic hints and moments, I’m afraid my opinion about the characters that formed during the initial introduction did not change by the end. The stereotypical description was obvious and over-played and because of this, I found the story slow and blasé.
September 10, 2011
I only read this book because it was compared to the secret history by donna tartt......someone must have smoking crack....... fail.
March 8, 2024
I really should have dnfed this. It's a multiple pov story told from 3rd person. Way too many characters get introduced & have their pov told. Not much dialogue. Writing is basic with some big words thrown in. For the dialogue that is there, it's either bad or sounds like some ultra rich person would say this. Overall, there's too many characters thrown in that the plot is very confusing. I love a murder mystery, but when it's done well. The plot twist is good- in a sense of you'll never actually guess who do it. Why? They aren't investigating by police & hardly ever mentioned. Good thing it was only $1 at the goodwill or else I'd be upset for wasting my money on it.
October 8, 2021
A very decent thriller! A girl who just delivered a baby is dead, and the baby is nowhere to be found. With a handful of characters at the private boarding school, you piece together the mystery of who did it one context clue at a time.
May 13, 2020
I enjoyed the fluid writing style, complex characters, and tight plot. This is a good read for those like me who have a soft spot for the niche of murder mysteries set at elite private schools in New England. Would read more by Charlotte Bacon.
September 9, 2011
Originally published at my blog
The Good: One of the things I really liked about this novel was the setting. It takes place at a prep school, and the author gives great descriptions of the settings that I can totally imagine Armitage in my head. I enjoyed Madeline, one of the main characters. I love that the author placed a "normal" adult around the privileged, over-educated teachers that surrounded the school. I thought the way the girls and their relationships with each other was depicted, was a pretty accurate portrayal. Their little "game"they played is sadly just another version of the way bullies get their power and it only seems to reinforce that only the rich, attractive, intelligent students are the only ones destined for greatness. I think more than the tragic story of a young girls death that could have been prevented on many levels, its a story on the level of cruelty teens possess these days. I liked the little thread of romance that was peppered throughout the story. Not only was there ONE potential love interest for Madeline, but TWO! I loved it!
The Bad: I was kind of disappointed in the character development in this novel. I thought there could have been SO much more to delve into. I don't know whether the author wanted readers to like Claire by the end but I certainly did not. In a way she was so under developed that I wasn't even that invested in her death. However my distaste for Claire is also representative of the fact that the author did a good job with description and making her a disgusting character. I have to say that besides the lack of character development, I thought there were a lot of unanswered questions, some loose ends that never got tied up. I would have liked to see those issues resolved.
Overall I really enjoyed this novel. I thought the best aspect to the novel was surely the descriptions. I totally felt immersed in the world of Armitage and the characters. I give this book a B+
**I received this book free from the publisher through . I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
The Good: One of the things I really liked about this novel was the setting. It takes place at a prep school, and the author gives great descriptions of the settings that I can totally imagine Armitage in my head. I enjoyed Madeline, one of the main characters. I love that the author placed a "normal" adult around the privileged, over-educated teachers that surrounded the school. I thought the way the girls and their relationships with each other was depicted, was a pretty accurate portrayal. Their little "game"they played is sadly just another version of the way bullies get their power and it only seems to reinforce that only the rich, attractive, intelligent students are the only ones destined for greatness. I think more than the tragic story of a young girls death that could have been prevented on many levels, its a story on the level of cruelty teens possess these days. I liked the little thread of romance that was peppered throughout the story. Not only was there ONE potential love interest for Madeline, but TWO! I loved it!
The Bad: I was kind of disappointed in the character development in this novel. I thought there could have been SO much more to delve into. I don't know whether the author wanted readers to like Claire by the end but I certainly did not. In a way she was so under developed that I wasn't even that invested in her death. However my distaste for Claire is also representative of the fact that the author did a good job with description and making her a disgusting character. I have to say that besides the lack of character development, I thought there were a lot of unanswered questions, some loose ends that never got tied up. I would have liked to see those issues resolved.
Overall I really enjoyed this novel. I thought the best aspect to the novel was surely the descriptions. I totally felt immersed in the world of Armitage and the characters. I give this book a B+
**I received this book free from the publisher through . I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
January 22, 2016
A fancy private school. A student murdered. We jump into this mystery through the character of Madeline, a first year teacher at Armitage Academy in New England. Her relationship with the deceased Claire, an aloof senior, was shallow enough that she has no idea of what could've possibly happened - and she's not the only one that's anxious to know how and why a privileged and brilliant girl could end up dead in her dorm room.
I hate having any details of a mystery divulged, so I won't say any more about the plot. I will say that part of what made this book interesting was the setting - a school full of kids who have never had to wish for anything. Suddenly one of the creme de la creme is murdered and the whole academy is turned upside down while the police investigate and speculation runs rampant. As we watch the story evolve through different narrators - Madeline, an art teacher, a janitor and a cop, pieces slowly fit into place in a way that I didn't expect.
Not so gripping I couldn't put it down, but not boring either, A Twisted Thread is worth picking up if you enjoy trying to guess whodunnit and especially if you are intrigued by the lives of the privileged and how even with all their money and power - tragedy can still find them.
I hate having any details of a mystery divulged, so I won't say any more about the plot. I will say that part of what made this book interesting was the setting - a school full of kids who have never had to wish for anything. Suddenly one of the creme de la creme is murdered and the whole academy is turned upside down while the police investigate and speculation runs rampant. As we watch the story evolve through different narrators - Madeline, an art teacher, a janitor and a cop, pieces slowly fit into place in a way that I didn't expect.
Not so gripping I couldn't put it down, but not boring either, A Twisted Thread is worth picking up if you enjoy trying to guess whodunnit and especially if you are intrigued by the lives of the privileged and how even with all their money and power - tragedy can still find them.
July 22, 2013
I purchased this book as a beach read to discuss with others on the trip. It was very slow to start and finally at about page 60 we thought that the book would get interesting. The book however never really seems to climax. It is very predicable and one member of our group was able to determine who had murdered the student within the first 20 pages. The author takes great time to develop the characters but there is just not enough action to really hold ones interest. I struggled to finish the book and was only surprised to learn who had the baby. However, how this person took care of the child is really very unlikely. I don't think I will read any other works by this author. Disappointed.
April 14, 2011
Murder mystery that takes place at a rich prep school. The author does a good job setting up the story, building the characters, revealing information bit by bit. Technically it is done quite well. However, she brings up very difficult issues - discrimination due to sexual preference, abortion, child pornography, possible sexual assault of a minor - without actually talking about them. As a reader I don't have to know all of the horrible details about any of those topics, but the author has the habit of hinting without actually talking about hard subjects. Nuance is okay. Making very difficult subjects plot points and then backing off is weak. The writing lacks bravery.
August 4, 2016
I enjoyed the read and would give it a 4.5 star rating. Plenty of characters to share their perspective on the events at hand. Everyone seemed to fit into the plot line. I didn't give it the full 5 because the ending felt rushed. All the ground work was laid and then a little twist that you didn't see coming and then full speed ahead to the ending.
July 24, 2011
I really enjoyed this book set in a school for priviledged children. Thought it was well written, the characters were well drawn with a cop who was also a alumnus of the school. Enough of a mystery to hold my interest and alot of well thought out conversations. Excellebt first book for this author.
March 1, 2015
This was a pretty good book. It took me awhile to get into it, but once I did it was okay. I thought it dragged a bit, especially at the end, but overall it was okay.
July 4, 2019
An enjoyable mystery. I loved the immersion into the prestigious school.
October 1, 2018
It took me a long while to read the book, not because I disliked it but because I had so many darn library holds come in so this got placed on the back burner. I'm thrilled to have finished it today as I really enjoyed it.
A young woman is found dead at prestigious Armitage Academy. It also turns out that she had just given birth to a baby who is now missing. Claire was not well liked by her teachers, she came across as aloof, cold and ambitious. As the story progresses we learn more about her and begin to learn the story of what happened via multiple points of view, - Madeline a young teacher who is interning at the academy; Matt a former student and newly returned cop to this small town; Fred the art teacher, and Jim a maintenance worker.
The book is far more character driven than plot driven. Those individuals looking for a fast paced mystery will be disappointed. It examines the insularity of these types of schools and examines how little we really know about people even as their lives intertwine. Even Madeline, as likeable a character as she is, is shocked to find that Claire was a more caring and complex person than Madeline thought. The author builds backstories for many of the characters giving them more shading and depth. While not new the book also explores the concept of wealth and the burden of prestige and how these may be harmful. Perhaps it is because I work at a university but it was fascinating to read all the machinations that went on to keep the Academy’s good name.
I had a few quibbles with the book, the ending was a little rushed and I think there may have been one too many students that Madeline speaks with in an attempt to solve Claire’s murder
I’d recommend this to anyone looking for less of a straight up mystery and more of a literary study with underpinnings of a mystery.
A young woman is found dead at prestigious Armitage Academy. It also turns out that she had just given birth to a baby who is now missing. Claire was not well liked by her teachers, she came across as aloof, cold and ambitious. As the story progresses we learn more about her and begin to learn the story of what happened via multiple points of view, - Madeline a young teacher who is interning at the academy; Matt a former student and newly returned cop to this small town; Fred the art teacher, and Jim a maintenance worker.
The book is far more character driven than plot driven. Those individuals looking for a fast paced mystery will be disappointed. It examines the insularity of these types of schools and examines how little we really know about people even as their lives intertwine. Even Madeline, as likeable a character as she is, is shocked to find that Claire was a more caring and complex person than Madeline thought. The author builds backstories for many of the characters giving them more shading and depth. While not new the book also explores the concept of wealth and the burden of prestige and how these may be harmful. Perhaps it is because I work at a university but it was fascinating to read all the machinations that went on to keep the Academy’s good name.
I had a few quibbles with the book, the ending was a little rushed and I think there may have been one too many students that Madeline speaks with in an attempt to solve Claire’s murder
I’d recommend this to anyone looking for less of a straight up mystery and more of a literary study with underpinnings of a mystery.
October 11, 2020
🎃🎃🎃
This was a decent book and I had no trouble reading to the very end of the epilogue. The writing was skillful, but the whole thing felt a bit bloodless, a bit anemic. The murder victim herself was fairly unlikable, not an excuse for not caring, but making it more difficult to be interested in the investigation. A young, privileged woman is found dead in her dorm room, having obviously recently given birth. The baby is nowhere to be found.
There are some good details: faculty who make the people around them uncomfortable, a mysterious sorority that seems to possess more than its share of mean girls, dark tunnels under the campus, a potential blackmail plot involving the art instructor, and the involvement of the intern, Madeline, in many of these aspects of the whole mess. Of course, because this is an exclusive school for the wealthy, platoons of lawyers descend on the campus and the police department and despite that, between Madeline and the two detectives on the case, they uncover things rather easily.
I read for plot mostly. The whole ��where's the baby?� question was the longest lasting issue. But everyone seemed awfully calm about that, like they had somehow been assured that everything would work out for the best. The main characters seemed more tired than anything else.
Not bad, but I won't be actively looking for more from this author. Three stars is kind of a big baggy category for me, holding a number of books that I neither love nor hate. Kind of the limbo in my book universe.
Cross posted at my blog:
This was a decent book and I had no trouble reading to the very end of the epilogue. The writing was skillful, but the whole thing felt a bit bloodless, a bit anemic. The murder victim herself was fairly unlikable, not an excuse for not caring, but making it more difficult to be interested in the investigation. A young, privileged woman is found dead in her dorm room, having obviously recently given birth. The baby is nowhere to be found.
There are some good details: faculty who make the people around them uncomfortable, a mysterious sorority that seems to possess more than its share of mean girls, dark tunnels under the campus, a potential blackmail plot involving the art instructor, and the involvement of the intern, Madeline, in many of these aspects of the whole mess. Of course, because this is an exclusive school for the wealthy, platoons of lawyers descend on the campus and the police department and despite that, between Madeline and the two detectives on the case, they uncover things rather easily.
I read for plot mostly. The whole ��where's the baby?� question was the longest lasting issue. But everyone seemed awfully calm about that, like they had somehow been assured that everything would work out for the best. The main characters seemed more tired than anything else.
Not bad, but I won't be actively looking for more from this author. Three stars is kind of a big baggy category for me, holding a number of books that I neither love nor hate. Kind of the limbo in my book universe.
Cross posted at my blog:
July 30, 2022
The twisted thread in this story is described like so: "Claire had invoked one of the most sacred of the Reign's rituals, which was the making of a braided thread - always red, and braided with a few hairs from the members' heads - that meant those who wore it vowed secrecy for life about a certain topic." The topic in this case is the pregnancy of one of the girls at the prestigious Armitage Academy, Claire, who was subsequently murdered, and her baby taken from the scene and missing. Madeline Christopher is an intern in the English department, who feels awful that she had no idea that Claire was even pregnant, and takes it upon herself to ask questions in an effort to find out what happened to Claire, and where the baby is now.
I really liked the premise of this story, and the mystery was a good one. I got confused a lot because there were just so many characters, and all of their backstories ran together after a while. The story could have done with some tightening up and without all the extraneous side stories. The ending was a surprise, which is always a good thing, and tied things up nicely.
All in all, I thought this was a good mystery novel and I would recommend it.
4 out of 5 stars.
*** I would like to thank Hyperion and Charlotte Bacon for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I really liked the premise of this story, and the mystery was a good one. I got confused a lot because there were just so many characters, and all of their backstories ran together after a while. The story could have done with some tightening up and without all the extraneous side stories. The ending was a surprise, which is always a good thing, and tied things up nicely.
All in all, I thought this was a good mystery novel and I would recommend it.
4 out of 5 stars.
*** I would like to thank Hyperion and Charlotte Bacon for the opportunity to read and review this book.
June 11, 2018
A prestigious Armitage Academy is shake into its core when Claire is found dead in her dorm and her baby is missing now everybody needs to find out what happened the twister come in the school is kind of slow to find out what happened they go through all the teachers of the school and the students to find out in the end it’s the headmaster son who did it because he was upset that she was gonna let everyone knowAnd his father tried to hide the truth Madeline Christopher an intern in the English department is trying to find out between the school students and the adults will guide them as to what happened in the story and with the help of a detective who in the end she decided she likes and starts the romance kind of after her other friend Fred leaves to pursue his art
Hard to follow this whole story there’s things in here that I don’t even know why it was even even in the story
Hard to follow this whole story there’s things in here that I don’t even know why it was even even in the story
June 24, 2021
I was in the mood for a thriller, and this one was pretty solid. It didn't get my heart up in my throat or set my blood to racing, but it set up a good mystery. In some ways, I was reminded of Tana French's slower-moving pieces (this is a compliment: French is one of my top 10 authors, possibly top 5), and the methodical way of investigating. Some of the resolutions/answers seemed a bit implausible to me, but not enough to make me dislike the read.
I'd read another from Bacon, based on this one.
I'd read another from Bacon, based on this one.
September 30, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed The Twisted Thread, it had interesting and likable main characters and kept me interested throughout. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, but that was my only (minor) problem.
I do enjoy a good boarding school book, and this mystery was even believable for the somewhat unrealistic plot, if that makes sense.
Everything tied up nicely, I liked the many different viewpoints we were privy to and the New England setting.
I do enjoy a good boarding school book, and this mystery was even believable for the somewhat unrealistic plot, if that makes sense.
Everything tied up nicely, I liked the many different viewpoints we were privy to and the New England setting.
January 13, 2021
I think I had started this book a few times and just couldn't get into it until I forced myself to keep reading. In my opinion, it was just kind of "meh". I enjoy thriller type books and this was more of a murder-mystery. Interesting "whodunit" twist. The second half of the book was better and more attention grabbing, but I don't think I would recommend this book.
July 31, 2020
I had no reason to enjoy The Twisted Thread as much as I did - it's your standard whodunnit - but I really felt for these characters and was genuinely surprised by the twist, and it left more of an impact than I was expecting to.
August 10, 2020
it got to be long and drawn out. at one point I couldn't keep track of the characters. I am still not sure who Tamsin is and why she said she had the baby when she didn't. overall it was an okay read, pretty predictable.
June 26, 2018
This book kept me turning the pages. Twisted plot like had me guessing who could have been involved. Liked that there was closure for characters.
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