I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai
The Granby School is an elite institution with a history marred by the scandalous murder of student Thalia Keith in 1995. Athletic director Omar Evans was convicted of Thalia’s murder, but online crime buffs have speculated for years that the case was rushed to judgment. In 2018, former student Bodie Kane is invited to teach at Granby. She accepts knowing that she’ll be reliving some of the worst years of her life; Thalia was Bodie’s classmate, her death a defining moment of Bodie’s past. Then one of Bodie’s students announces that their class project will center on reopening the case. The memories Bodie has buried now begin to push their way to the present — for Bodie has her own theory about who killed Thalia, and it’s definitely not Omar. Written as a dialogue to an unknown subject, this carefully crafted literary thriller unfolds its truths slowly, building the suspense page by page. I Have Some Questions for You melds social commentary and immersive storytelling in one haunting and irresistible package.
Reviewed by Mary Kinser, collection development librarian, Whatcom County Library System
(Originally published in Bellingham Alive April 2023 issue.)