A Study in Drowning is a work of “dark academia” literature, a contemporary term that rose to prominence in the early 2010s. It represents both a literary genre and a visual aesthetic, with the latter strongly influenced by the former. As a literary genre, dark academia follows morally ambiguous characters who pursue knowledge in some way. This usually occurs within a controlled establishment, such as a school, archive, or museum. These stories explore themes like the cost of knowledge and the systemic class divides that have historically been present within these institutions. Much of the moral ambiguity in these novels comes from the fact that prestigious institutes of higher learning have traditionally been comprised of male, white, and upper class individuals. For many, such as Oxford in the UK, it was only in the late 1900s that the student populace became more consistently co-ed and multiracial. This transitionary period is explored through a secondary world in A Study in Drowning.

Donna Tartt’s The Secret History is widely considered to be the first overtly dark academia novel, although the term was not yet in widespread use when the book was first published. This trend of “campus novels” inspired an aesthetic and subculture that arose between 2010 and 2015, first on the blogging platform Tumblr and later on other social media platforms.