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Brooks Jenson, a cadet at West Point, is leading a double life. Ostensibly, for the past few years, he and Mara Anderson have been quite happily dating. What Mara doesn't know is that Brooks is also romantically involved with Jedidiah ("Jed") Figuero, a popular student and skilled athlete. Brooks and Jed have agreed to date women in the hopes of disguising their orientation, which could land them in trouble in the repressive environment of West Point. Their subterfuge threatens to spill into the open when Brooks discovers Jed's lifeless body, his throat slit. Soon, investigators arrive on campus asking uncomfortable questions, seeking a motive for murder, and as hidden truths are brought into the light, Brooks risks losing everything.
The great virtues of Anolic's novel are its breeziness and brevity. The book is written in a plain style that flows easily. Characters are introduced and dispatched with a minimum of fuss, and the various questions raised in the early going—Why might Jed have been murdered? How reliable is the narrator? Will Mara discover his infidelities?—keep the pages turning. Although technically a mystery, the focus is less on the detective work involved or on a climactic revelation of the killer than on the novel's broader themes. For instance, as a window into the homophobic culture of schools like West Point and the detrimental effects of that culture on closeted students, the book excels. In recent years, murder mysteries have frequently proven a more effective vehicle for social and moral instruction than sermons. In addressing current issues, Anolic is at her best.