Well-written novel of obsession and revenge, set in St Oswald's minor (British) public school. Lots of characters which I sometimes found hard to remember, but well-observed and humorous plot with several twists. ( )

The story fluctuates between the past and the present but the location is the same: St. Oswald's School for Boys. Traditional. Aristocratic. Moneyed. Someone has infiltrated the school, someone the Ozzies embrace as their own. But this one doesn't want to be part of the school, not anymore at least. This time, there's another agenda.

Harris does so well at writing isolated communities, whether it be a school, a village, or an island. She gets the nuances and she plays them so well. This one was darker in tone than her others. She surprised me with that - there were a few times I thought she would pull the punch but she didn't. Not much magical realism in this one. She mentions 'the wind' bringing a change a few times which reminded of Chocolat and The Girl Who Had No Shadow where she used the same phrasing. In fact I was reminded of Girl a few times, I think it was the whole 'assumed identity' thing. I actually predicted the twist but talked myself out of it. Then it happened, Gah! ( )

I don't often read thrillers, but Joanne Harris is not someone I associate with thrillers. She has done a good job with this one. I wanted escapism, and a good old page turner and I got it. I have to confess, I saw "the twist" coming a way off, less than half way through I guessed - I'll say no more, but an entertaining read - the trouble with thrillers is that people get killed and bad things happen because someone else does wicked evil things, and that makes me slightly uncomfortable, which is odd, because if this story had been a telly detective show on the beeb at nine o'clock it wouldn't have bothered me at all.

I thought the way this was written in alternating narratives, one of whom is a bit of a mystery was clever, and effective. At first I thought some of the names of her characters at first seemed odd, but I think were created with the authors tounge firmly embedded in cheek, which made me smile. Also Joanne Harris recreates the world of a English private school very well, and made a great setting for this type of novel. ( )

Better than I thought it would be, and I expected a lot. A truly surprising twist ending that caught me off guard, and that I won't give away here. No magical realism as in so many other Harris books. ( )

One of six books nominated for best novel by the Edgar Awards in 2007. It did not win but for me it was a very close call between this one and the book that did win, The Janissary Tree.

Gentlemen and Players has a lot going for it and is acturally put together better and has a more likable main character in Roy Straitley than the Janissary Tree which is cluttered and messy. The main character is less well defined in The Janissary Tree, and has a very chaotic story in which to try and find out what is going on. Roy Straitley is trying to solve his mystery inside a school, an enviroment that the author of Gentlemen And Players knows well and uses extremely well throughout the book. The conflicts between the teachers ring very true as does the interactions between the teachers and the students. There are dual narrators, one is Straitley and the other is the unknown killer. At times this is an advantage for the story but at other times it is confusing and somewhat frustrating since the narrative by Straitley is so focused. His narrations advance the story and our understanding of the school and the character of Straitley. The killers narration is not as good. By necessity it is more clouded and less revealing so the reader can't guess who the killer is, unfortunatntly it doesn't read as well as the Straitley narration and in fact is a distraction at times. Another confusing segment is the chess references that occur throughout. But the strengths outweigh the weaknesses in this story. In fact, Gentleman and Players has more strengths than The Janissary Tree does. It also has fewer weaknesses than The Janissary Tree does. It is only by a small margin that I liked one more than the other. In the end I liked The Janissary Tree better because the messy, cluttered structure of the book mirrored the story that it was telling. The confusion within the structure of the book was very close to the confusion of the times being described, in short one of the weaknesses of the book (in some ways) is also one of the reasons why I liked the whole of the book as much as I did. The confusion in Gentleman and Players is necessary for the story to be told but is frustrating in some ways while the confusion and messiness in The Janissary Tree actually add to the enjoyment of the book. Other readers may not agree but by a slim margin I agree with The Janissary Tree winning for best novel in 2007. ( )