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Gentlemen & Players is a crime novel written by the very talented author Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat). Normally I am not a fan of Harris’ crime writing, I prefer the magic that is involved in some of her other work. But after a few pages I found myself easily drawn in to this one, and struggled to put it down.
The story is set in a fictional private school named St Oswalds. As with many of Harris’s other books the book is written from two points of view, in this case from the point of view of the child of a former porter, named Snyde, and the Classics professor Rob Straitley.
Straitly is a very old fashioned character, he is the last Classics teacher left in the school, hates computers and whiteboards and prefers to use his pigeon hole and a blackboard with chalk. He has been at the school for over 30 years and is rapidly approaching his “centenary”, his 100th term as a teacher. He is a crotchety character, uncomfortable around women (he has never married), scornful of some of his colleagues and very protective of his students. He is also one of Snyde’s main targets, as he was a witness to an incident many years ago that led to the death of one of his students.
Snyde on the other hand is very modern, adept with mobile phones and computers, using them to leave a trail that incriminates various staff members with pornographic images and fake browser histories. Snyde was also a witness to the death of a student, Leon Knight, and through the book the story is slowly pieced together by these two characters.
The whole thing starts, as most school books do, in September with a new school year and a new term. New staff members, including Snyde under a new name with a fake CV, and reorganisation with some of the classrooms. Straitley’s year does not start well as he finds his office has been taken from him and given to the languages department, and during the term that the book covers other aspects of his teaching are eroded. You get the feeling that he would actually be a better head of the languages department as he is aware of the other teachers and their personal problems, and cares less for politics and Health and Safety and more about those he works with and those he teaches.
Snyde on the other hand is a predator, bent on destroying the school and Straitley, using one pupil to this end. Jackson Knight is in Straitley’s form and feels bullied and victimised, although both teachers agree that he is mostly just another spoilt brat who thinks the world should revolve around him. At one point he accuses Straitley of anti-Semitism, claiming the teacher is picking on him for being Jewish. I will not, obviously, ruin the rest of the book for you.
During the term Straitley is slowly pushed towards increasingly dangerous health problems as the speed of the story picks up, stolen items, accusations from pupils, graffiti on the fence of his home. Likewise the story about Snyde picks up, the past, the parents (including an absent mother) and Straitley’s role in everything and what he did to deserve such torment. Harris balances both characters well, ending each chapter with enough information to make you go “and...!?” before swapping back to the other character, so you are compelled to turn the pages and find out more. I also like the fact that she set the book in a school with an old history, but kept the book in the present day, where teachers are facing pressure to keep up to date with increasing workloads, the latest teaching technology, and the out-of-school arguments between pupils that often start on social media platforms beyond the school's remit.
My one complaint about this book is that it is a bit too long, but the ending will literally blow your socks off and make you flick back through the previous chapters going “how on earth did I miss that?” so it is definitely worth taking the time to read it.
This is a very good book writing by a very good author, if you like crime novels with a bit of a twist then I highly recommend you pick this up. It's been out for a number of years so you'll probably find it in a charity shop if you don't want to pay full price.
