In this gripping account, Schechter (Hell's Princess) charts the descent of farmer Andrew Kehoe into madness. On May 18, 1927, Kehoe killed 38 children and seven adults at a school in Bath, Mich., in what has become essentially a forgotten crime. On that day, Kehoe, a member of the Bath school board, killed his wife, set fire to his farm, and blew up the new consolidated schoolhouse. He then loaded his truck with shrapnel and an incendiary device, drove back to the scene of the crime, and called the superintendent over to the vehicle and blew it up. The two men were killed instantly, and multiple bystanders were injured. An inquest found that the disgruntled Kehoe, who seemingly hated everyone and everything, was pushed over the edge by the new property tax to build the school. As for his mental issues, Schechter notes evidence of a brain injury when Kehoe was young, after which he killed his sister's cat and was suspected in the fire that killed his stepmother. Whatever the source of his demons, Kehoe has the dubious distinction of being the first to target a school for mass murder. Thorough research matches the assured prose. True crime buffs will want to take a look. Agent: David Patterson, Foundry Literary. (Mar.)

Veteran true crime writer Schechter (Ripped from the Headlines! 2020) turns to 1920s Michigan to cover the Bath School massacre. Andrew Kehoe, local farmer and former school board member, was a bitter and poor man with delusions of grandeur who blamed rising taxes that funded the school for his financial woes. His conviction that the school was the source of his problems led him to plot to blow up the consolidated school, and the resulting explosion killed dozens of children and several adults. The reverberations of this horrific disaster were felt through the community for decades, yet it faded into obscurity in the national news until the events of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston marathon bomber, and the Virginia Tech shooting decades later. Schechter delves into Kehoe's life, along with the circumstances leading up to the bloodbath he wrought, and discusses other major news events of the time period that eclipsed coverage of the bombing. In his usual way, Schechter engrosses the reader without being sensationalist, and fans of his previous work would do well to pick this up.

School massacres are disturbingly regular occurrences today, but a century ago they were unheard of--until May 18, 1927, when Michigan's Bath Consolidated School became the site of an enormous explosion that killed 38 children and six adults and injured more than 50 others. Set off by a local farmer, Andrew Kehoe, it was the first and one of the deadliest school massacres in U.S. history. Crime writer Schechter pieces together the causes--in the years after World War I, there was a movement in America to overhaul the badly outdated rural school systems, and in 1921 Bath began construction on a modernized school building. But the increased taxes to pay for the school angered some, especially Kehoe. With the postwar farm crisis already causing financial strain, the additional taxes levied for the school incensed him to the point of violence. Readers may wish for more detail on Kehoe's own psychology and thoughts; nevertheless, the minute-by-minute account of the event and the firsthand reports create a strong sense of place and time and bring this chilling story to life. VERDICT A vivid narrative that's sure to please those interested in historical true crime tales.--Melissa Stoeger, Deerfield P.L., IL