Murder at School

Book by James Hilton

First edition (publ. Ernest Benn)

Murder at School is a detective novel by James Hilton first published in 1931 under the pen-name Glen Trevor.[1] It was released in the United States in 1933 under the title Was It Murder?.[2]

## Introduction

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Murder at School deals with the phenomenon of coincidence by posing the question of how likely it is that two brothers attending the same boarding school meet with two separate accidental deaths—and curious ones at that—within the same schoolyear. In the manner typical of the Golden Age whodunnit, the solution is only presented in the final pages of the novel. Throughout the book, an amateur sleuth and a Scotland Yard detective vie with each other to solve the riddle, with only one of them successful in the end.

Murder at School remained Hilton's only detective novel— a brief youthful foray into crime fiction he shares with writers such as C. S. Forester (Payment Deferred, 1926; Plain Murder, 1930) and C. P. Snow (Death Under Sail, 1932).

## Plot summary

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Oakington is one of the lesser-known public schools in England, and Dr Roseveare, its headmaster, has been trying hard for seven years to improve its reputation. When, in the winter term of 1927-1928, one of the pupils is killed in his sleep by an old gas fitting falling down from the ceiling he contacts Colin Revell, an Old Boy, to discreetly investigate the matter. Not entirely convinced that there was no foul play involved but unable to pin down a motive on anyone, Revell leaves again after a few weeks, and most of the evidence is destroyed by the installation of electricity in the whole building.

A few months later Revell is shocked to learn that the deceased boy's brother has also died under mysterious circumstances—he seems to have jumped into the school's indoor swimming pool late at night after the water had been drained—and travels to Oakington of his own accord. Now it turns out that the closest relative of the two brothers, who have been orphans for years, is actually a teacher at Oakington, and that he stands to inherit a small fortune. At the same time Revell falls in love with that teacher's beautiful young wife.

## References

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1. ^ Hubin, Allen J. (1984). Crime Fiction, 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography. Garland Pub. p. 396\. ISBN 978-0-8240-9219-1.
2. ^ Haycraft, Howard (13 February 2019). Murder for Pleasure: The Life and Times of the Detective Story. Courier Dover Publications. p. 404\. ISBN 978-0-486-83771-0.

## External links

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* e-text at Project Gutenberg

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James Hilton

Novels|

* Catherine Herself (1920)
* Storm Passage (1922)
* The Passionate Year (1924)
* Dawn of Reckoning (1925)
* Meadows of the Moon (1926)
* Terry (1927)
* The Silver Flame (1928)
* Murder at School (1931)
* And Now Goodbye (1931)
* Contango (Ill Wind) (1932)
* Rage in Heaven (1932)
* Knight Without Armour (1933)
* Lost Horizon (1933)
* Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1934)
* We Are Not Alone (1937)
* Random Harvest (1941)
* So Well Remembered (1945)
* Nothing So Strange (1947)
* Morning Journey (1951)
* Time and Time Again (1953)

Non-fiction|

* Mr. Chips Looks at the World (1939)
* The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
* H.R.H.: The Story of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1956)

Short stories|

* "The Failure" (1924)
* "Twilight of the Wise" (1936)
* "The Bat King" (1937)
* "It's a Crazy World" (1937)
* "From Information Received" (1938)
* "The Girl Who Got There" (1938)
* To You, Mr Chips! (collection) (1938)
* "You Can't Touch Dotty" (1938)

Plays|

* And Now Goodbye (with Philip Howard) (1937)
* Goodbye, Mr. Chips (with Barbara Burnham) (1938)

Screenplays|

* Camille (1936)
* We Are Not Alone (1939)
* Lights Out in Europe (1940)
* Foreign Correspondent (dialogue) (1940)
* The Tuttles of Tahiti (1942)
* Mrs. Miniver (1942)
* Forever and a Day (collaboration) (1943)

Adaptations|

* Lost Horizon (1937)
* Knight Without Armour (1937)
* We Are Not Alone (1939)
* Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
* Rage in Heaven (1941)
* Random Harvest (1942)
* The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
* So Well Remembered (1947)
* Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
* Lost Horizon (1973)
* Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1984)
* Goodbye, Mr. Chips (2002)

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