Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan | Teen Ink

Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan

April 3, 2010
By TheJust ELITE, Ellenton, Florida
TheJust ELITE, Ellenton, Florida
254 articles 202 photos 945 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I feel that a hero is somebody who will stand up for their values and what they believe in and that can take any form. People that have values and have thought them through rather than those who just do what they’re told."-Skandar Keynes

"When it’


"I am not Susan any longer. I am not the person they know their daughter and their sister. I am a stranger who has lived through things they could not even begin to imagine and who has changed into someone foreign to them all. They look at me and call me 'Sue', and I speack back to them, and they never guess how far away from them I am and how much I miss them."

This is how Susan McConelly feels after pulling the prank. "A harmless prank to get Mr. Griffin to loosen up a bit." That's what they thought. Until something goes terribly, terribly wrong. Susan and some of her classmates decided to "kidnap" their English teacher, to scare him into lightening up on the students' workload. But upon returning to their hideout, they find Mr. Griffin. Dead. How he died, none of them know. But what they do know, is that if they get caught, no one will believe they were simply pulling a prank.

They decide to continue with their lives as usual. They answer the police's questions, with a few twists of their own, about Mr. Griffin's mysterious disappearance; they go to basketball practice; go out on dates; and hang out in their usual groups. But something about the ring leader's calmness is eerie and disturbing. He seems to be oddly enjoying the frantic-ness of Kathy Griffin, Mr. Griffin's pregnant wife, and the desperate search of police for the missing English teacher. He was granted the gift of finding his way out of any and every problem thrown at him. Which is good. But soon....turns dangerous.

"Killing Mr. Griffin" has an interesting plot-line, not used often in mysteries. And unlike most mysteries, the story is told through the eyes of the "criminals" instead of the victim, police or one of the victim's family members. The language, although, is overbearing and completely unnecessary, but other than that, it is a good thriller with a good plot. The question that will keep you wanting to read more is if Mark, the ring leader, has simply an unnaturally calm personality, or if he is a psychopath waiting to be discovered.



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This article has 1 comment.


WiseGirl said...
on Apr. 17 2010 at 3:04 pm
WiseGirl, Adams, Tennessee
0 articles 0 photos 64 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I think, therefore I am."
-Rene Decartes

We read this book in English. It was really good!