The Secret History starts with a murder. The first half of the book tells us what led up to it and the second half tells us about the aftermath. It is all told by a young college student, Richard Papen, who is out of his element at a small New England liberal arts college.

The characters are interesting and there is a lot of suspense, but the story dragged in a few places and I never understood a couple of the characters but then neither did the main protagonist.

Left in the Little Free Library

As a Goodreads reviewer named Sam summed it up: "I understand why 'The Secret History' is loathed as much as it is loved. If I remove myself a bit ... I note implausible dialogue and somewhat unbelievable plot elements, horrifically selfish and nasty main characters, overflowing with evil, sure, but mostly with ennui and snobbery and drunkenness and poor-little-rich-people and an air of erudition that's more smokescreen than substance." It's true that their clothes, their speech, even their separate little class being allowed on campus--all are unbelievable. But once you check out that stellar opening line, you're going to to read on: "The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation."