Lauren Ling Brown ’12 Recommends Chilling Mysteries

Brown’s debut novel, Society of Lies, follows an alumna investigating the death of her sister, who was in an exclusive Princeton social club

The cover of "Society of Lies," with a photo of nine windows on an ivy-covered building; and a photo of author Lauren Brown ’12.

Photo by Katerina Hung

By James Swinehart ’27

Published Sept. 25, 2024

1 min read

Lauren Ling Brown ’12, a film editor who studied screenwriting for her MFA, picked Princeton as the setting for her debut novel, a murder mystery titled Society of Lies. It follows an alumna investigating the mysterious death of her sister, who was in an exclusive Princeton social club. The novel’s twists and turns explore the dark side of prestige’s ties to race, family, and collegiate social life.

PAW asked Brown to recommend three more chilling novels to read this October, and she suggested these. Like Society of Lies, she says, they challenge readers to think deeply about the worlds where the stories take place, “uncovering layers of mystery while also learning something about themselves and their place in the world.”

Never Let Me Go

By Kazuo Ishiguro

A quiet mystery, Never Let Me Go is told from the perspective of the deeply observant and introspective Kathy, who recounts her experience at Hailsham, an idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. At this unusual school, the teachers both showered the students with praise and kept an eerie distance from them. Now a young woman, Kathy has reconnected with two of her former classmates and learns what kind of institution Hailsham is and what that means for their future. This novel is at once a coming-of-age story about young love as well as a disturbing reflection on what it means to be truly free.

White Ivy

By Susie Yang

White Ivy is a suspense novel about identity, privilege, and ambition for fans of The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Great Gatsby. Yang creates a compelling main character in Ivy, a young Chinese-American woman who wants to rise from her middle-class background and pursue wealth by any means necessary. What results is far from what Ivy expected, as she is forced to reckon with the consequences of her ruthless ambition.

Intimacies

By Katie Kitamura ’99

Written by a fellow Princeton alumna, Intimacies follows an interpreter for the Hague’s International Court who navigates a complicated romantic relationship, a random act of violence, and an international political controversy. With restrained yet vivid prose, Kitamura builds tension throughout the novel, weaving a spellbinding story that asks what it means to feel close to another person and how that proximity can cloud our judgment.