Without further ado, here we go:
- There are weird and dangerous happenings in university campuses
- There’s also a lot of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll (#nosurprise)
- If there’s a small tightly knit group of students that also involves a professor, then something dangerous is about to happen, sooner or later
- If there’s a professor who seems too good to be true, there’s always something weird about him / her
- If the professor teaches Literature or Psychology, there are higher chances for a spooky story
- At some point, some students (most probably the main character) will find out the dirty secret of the professor
- If a professor becomes romantically involved with one of the students, then something dangerous is about to happen, sooner or later
- If there’s a murder, there are high chances that the famous teacher is somehow involved or knows something about it
- The criminal(s) may or may not be punished for the murder
- What Dostoevsky illustrated more than 150 ago, when he wrote “Crime and Punishment”, is still valid today 🙂
The “learnings” were derived from 3 books that focused on the murder mysteries set in university campuses (incl. links to my reviews):
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Hampden College, USA) – my review
- The Book of Mirrors by E.O. Chirovici (Princeton University, USA) – my review
- The Truants by Kate Weinberg (University of East Anglia, UK) – my review
Have you read any books of this type? If yes, what are your main insights?
‘Till next time … happy reading!
Georgiana
Readers' High Tea 
Interesting post! I haven’t read any of these books. Fortunately, or unfortunately, none of these things happened on campus when I was at university.
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Thank you! Same here, fortunately I only read books about these situations 🙂
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I love the secret history so much and the whole dark academia genre talks enough about what could go wrong on a campus .. did you know Donna Tartt went to the same college as the American Psycho author? It is known for having been a place of many drugs and a unique culture with people similiar to the classics students, but I have not yet read of a murder happening there hahha.
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Oh, I did not know there is a genre called “dark academia” – it’s exactly what these books are about! And I had no idea about the connection between Donna Tartt and author of the American Psycho.
Thanks a lot for sharing!
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Ah yes I discovered it not that long ago a while after reading the secret history as well! There’s no one definition but I would best describe dark academia as where the characters are giving everything to one passion (often in an academic setting), to the point where it’s all-consuming with all the bad things that comes with that, like losing yourself, group manipulation or any darker psychological aspect to it. Often also ends in murder. I mean as you might’ve guessed it also has lighter elements to it, but I really read a lot of it when I had to leave uni early this spring (bc of covid)
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I loved the Secret History, but haven’t read the other two…are they worth reading? I like how you have noticed these recurring narrative themes…very interesting!
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In my opinion, The Secret History was the most complex of the three books, and the most worth-reading. The Truants is quite similar to The Secret History. The Book of Mirrors was different, with more psychological aspects.
I enjoyed reading all of them, but I would prioritize them as follows: 1) The Secret History, 2) The Book of Mirrors, 3) The Truants.
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There does seem to be a pattern – ha! I now own The Secret History (got it at a thrift shop) so now I can read it at my leisure! I’d already read the first 75 pages from the library but had to return in.
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I hope you’ll enjoy it! I got really hooked on the story when I read it, it’s very adrenaline-rushing at times 🙂
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