Boarding schools are an ideal setting for mysteries. The closed environment leads to heightened relationships, and those relationships lead to all manner of betrayals, backstabbings, and brutality. Depending on the age demographic of the boarding school mystery, they can really run the gamut from homework theft to full-blown serial killing.
Mysteries are great for younger readers because they encourage critical thinking and puzzle-solving. As readers grow, mysteries continue to activate those exciting problem-solving skills in a controlled environment. And as an adult, the school setting is always fun for nostalgia. There’s also something deeply interesting about being a teacher at a boarding school. There are more restrictions than a college, but the novels that focus on teachers bring back all those high school feelings in a different context. Many boarding school mysteries also contain fantasy elements because the fantasy school setting has been popular ever since Ursula K. Le Guin’s
A Wizard of Earthsea.
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