The Darkling Halls of Ivy

by Lawrence Block, Ian Rankin (Contribution by), David Morrell (Contribution by)

Overview

In recent years, colleges and universities have become known for their “trigger warnings” and “safe spaces”—but as the 18 authors who penned stories for this powerful new anthology can tell you, there's plenty of danger still lurking behind the stolid stonework, leather-bound volumes, and thickets of ivy.

Award-winning editor Lawrence Block has assembled a Who's Who of literary luminaries and turned them loose on the world of academia, where petty rivalries and grand betrayals inflame relations between professors and students, deans and donors. From Ian Rankin to Joe Lansdale, Seanan McGuire to David Morrell, each author reveals the dark truths and buried secrets that make institutions of higher learning such a hotbed of controversy. You'll encounter plagiarism, sexual misconduct, and brutal competition—not to mention secret societies, cover-ups of murder, and one near-future course of study that makes The Handmaid's Tale look like Mother Goose.

So: collect your supplies, plan your schedule, and prepare to pull an all-nighter, because The Darkling Halls of Ivy is required reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951939816
Publisher:	LB Productions
Publication date:	05/31/2020
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

The winner of multiple Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon Awards, Lawrence Block (b. 1938) is one of the most acclaimed mystery authors writing today. Best known for his Matthew Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr series, Block has published more than 100 books and numerous short stories. His novel A Drop of the Hard Stuff was adapted into the Liam Neeson film A Walk Among The Tombstones. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Something to Skip: Lawrence Block

Requiem for a Homecoming: David Morrell

An Even Three: Reed Farrel Coleman

Writing Maeve Dubinsky: Jane Hamilton

Alt-AC: Warren Moore

Einstein’s Sabbath: David Levien

The Degree: Joe R. Lansdale

Rounded with a Sleep: A. J. Hartley

The Reasoners: Ian Rankin

Noise Cancellation: Tom Straw

Monkey in Residence: Xu Xi

Bertie and the Boat Race: Peter Lovesey

That Golden Way: Owen King

With Footnotes and References: Gar Anthony Haywood

Penelope McCoy: Nicholas Christopher

Tess and Julie, Julie and Tess: Jill D. Block

Why She Didn’t Tell: John Lescroart

Foundational Education: Seanan Mcguire

Goon #4: Tod Goldberg

Editorial Reviews

Set in and around colleges and universities, the 17 new stories and one reprint in this top-notch anthology explore the forbidding side of academia. As Block (the Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries) notes in his droll introduction, each of the varied, well-told tales is “as individual as fingerprints.” Among the standouts are David Morrell’s devious “Requiem for a Homecoming,” in which two alumni cast suspicion on each other while debating a 20-year-old murder; Ian Rankin’s riveting “The Reasoners,” concerning the cover-up of a murder at a secret society in an ancient British university; and Reed Farrel Coleman’s chilling “An Even Three,” about a psychopath at a liberal arts college. Elsewhere, themes veer from rivalry, rape, and survival of the fittest, to plagiarism, academic ghostwriting, and unsavory alternative employment beyond the ivy-covered walls. Creepy oddities include Owen King’s tale of heroism, “That Golden Way,” A.J. Hartley’s supernatural “Rounded with a Sleep,” and Jane Hamilton’s superlative “Writing Maeve Dubinsky,” about the appropriation of another person’s work. Crime fiction fans won’t want to miss this exemplary compilation.

-Publishers Weekly's starred review

From the Publisher

★ 03/30/2020

Set in and around colleges and universities, the 17 new stories and one reprint in this top-notch anthology explore the forbidding side of academia. As Block (the Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries) notes in his droll introduction, each of the varied, well-told tales is “as individual as fingerprints.” Among the standouts are David Morrell’s devious “Requiem for a Homecoming,” in which two alumni cast suspicion on each other while debating a 20-year-old murder; Ian Rankin’s riveting “The Reasoners,” concerning the cover-up of a murder at a secret society in an ancient British university; and Reed Farrel Coleman’s chilling “An Even Three,” about a psychopath at a liberal arts college. Elsewhere, themes veer from rivalry, rape, and survival of the fittest, to plagiarism, academic ghostwriting, and unsavory alternative employment beyond the ivy-covered walls. Creepy oddities include Owen King’s tale of heroism, “That Golden Way,” A.J. Hartley’s supernatural “Rounded with a Sleep,” and Jane Hamilton’s superlative “Writing Maeve Dubinsky,” about the appropriation of another person’s work. Crime fiction fans won’t want to miss this exemplary compilation. Agent: Danny Baror, Baror International. (May)

Publishers Weekly