School for Scoundrels

After penning more than half a dozen non-fiction books, legal scholar Stephen L. Carter turned his hand to writing crime fiction. His opening effort, The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002), was praised as “a thrilling read, driven by a powerful cocktail of plot and character “ (The Observer). And his second novel, New England White--drawing two secondary players from Ocean Park to center stage--won almost equal praise, being compared with the work of Scott Turow.

It’s Carter’s sophomore novel that also attracts the attention of critic Diane Leach. In a rather mixed review today for January Magazine, she remarks:

Yale University law professor Stephen L. Carter is obsessed by power, particularly of the backroom variety. In New England White, his thickly layered whodunit (originally published last year, but only recently released in paperback), he pits Julia Veazie Carlyle and her husband, Lemaster, against a shadowy, frightening group out to quell the release of certain information, which has ramifications all the way up to the White House. That the shadowy and powerful are a tiny African-American elite adds a level to this mystery that many others lack: a glimpse into a world rarely seen by whites.

You’ll find the complete review here.