The Classmates

Marilyn Arnold is an emeritus professor of English from Brigham Young University. She has been involved in administration, and still publishes through the Women's Research Institute. She continues to teach literature to adults. She has written three award-winning novels entitled: DESERT SONG, SONG OF HOPE, and SKY FULL OF RIBBONS. Her most recent book is entitled: FIELDS OF CLOVER. She has also written many scholarly books and articles. Five classmates, now in their golden years, have returned to their birth place, Yucca Flats, Nevada. The first victim, Theona Worley, is living in her ancestral home. Her father has stipulated that after two years of living in her childhood home the secret of the "family wealth" will be hers. The very week she is intending to claim her wealth a murderer takes her life. The remaining four women congregate at Florence Adair's home, but a second murder soon follows. In the midst of the group, Valdean Purdy finds herself becoming an amateur sleuth. Another classmate, Justa Tinley, a perennially nervous Nellie, is nonetheless observant enough to provide clues: "Everyone looked at Justa. 'Well, it's so isn't it?' She cried defensively, looking from one face to another. 'That Jack person slinking around, inside and out, the mailman comin' at all hours, Sylvie lookin' at me like I'm the one that done Madge in, and now this morning that trashy woman waltzin' in her and acting like she owns the place!' Justa closed her mouth and became absorbed once more in the loose thread." Arnold is an expert at setting the atmosphere, creating individual characters, and laying down an intriguing plot line. THE CLASSMATES is a sinister page-turner with an omniscient narrator who never definitively identifies him or herself, but who jumps in to raise the bar. Arnold provides humor in the eccentricities of her characters, but the Hitchcock like plot hangs over their heads and creates a certain amount of terror throughout. THE CLASSMATES would no doubt make a great movie, with the voice of our "narrator" lending a horrifying angle to a tale which is already alarming. THE CLASSMATES is a well wrought novel with layer upon layer of mystery, personality, and plot. It is a wonderful read for a rainy day. Shelley Glodowski Senior Reviewer