Shadow of the Lions

An unsolved mystery plunges the best friend of a missing person into sinuous intrigues 10 years later in this confidently plotted literary thriller. In 2001, Fritz Davenport, a senior at the Blackburne School in Virginia, vanishes shortly after an emotional confrontation about a cheating incident admitted by his best friend, Matthias Glass. Fritz’s disappearance devastates his family and the lack of closure about his fate casts a pall over Matthias’s life. In 2011, Matthias—recovering from a failed relationship and blocked as a novelist—has taken on a temporary teaching gig at Blackburne. A student’s death rips open old wounds that he seeks to stanch with a renewed inquiry into Fritz’s fate. Exploring new clues provided by authorities and acquaintances, Matthias uncovers familial and institutional pathologies that his younger, guilt-ridden self could never have imagined. Swann renders his debut novel’s prep school setting with an authority that lends credibility to some of the more farfetched twists of its plot. Its melodramatic denouement notwithstanding, his tale keeps the reader guessing until it offers up its final revelations. (Aug.)