A Study in Charlotte

3 1/2 stars.
I liked this book! The complexity and realism of characters drew me in, and the mystery elements also really worked–I kept thinking, they must be getting close to a solultion...then plot twist! Nice one.
Generally, teens solving crimes at boarding school is as two-dimensional as could be, but this book managed to let me suspend my disbelief on that one.
This book is too gritty for me to recommend to the school library where I work, but violent, sexual, mental illness, family dysfunction, and drug-related content wasn't gratuitous. The things that should have messed people up and resulted in them being a bit broken did, in fact, result in brokenness, and no one, kids or adults, were 100% black or white (except our villain, who was pretty straight forwardly evil).
Spoiler: An image that will linger is Jamie crawling under the porch and choosing to hold Charlotte while she's mean and high, saying yes to their weird friendship, choosing loyalty and to be present.