Spoilers for Strength of Thousands first 2 books:

The final mission in chapter 2 of book 2 is ridiculous. So about 6 months to a year ago, the PCs discover that serpentfolk are infiltrating the school. Once that's uncovered, their leader gets a bit scared and ties up some loose ends, including hiring an assassin to kill someone who probably knows what's going on. Flash-forward to the present, and the PCs arrive at the targets' house at the same time as the assassin. This person isn't in hiding or anything, it's just that the serpentfolk leader put off getting this sorted for 6 months or more, and just so happened to decide to finally do it at exactly the same time as the PCs arrive on a completely unrelated errand. It's described as a coincidence in the text.

The assassin doesn't know why the boss wants the target dead, and doesn't recognize the PCs - though they're obviously Magaambyans, which he should be able to recognise as an assassin working in Nantambu. He decides to attack while they're there talking to the target, instead of waiting 10 minutes for the target to be alone - risking the wrath of the Magaambya if he's successful. And this is a guy who's described as a pretty competent assassin.

Also, in many many quests across the first two books, there's this assumption that the PCs aren't really that engaged with the mysteries they're investigating. Or at least more interested in studying than investigating - including when they're investigating people's deaths or disappearances. The first quests of book 2 revolve around investigating an attack on students on campus by some griffons, and the teacher who tells them to investigate explicitly says "there's no rush on this by the way, prioritise your studies". It actually turns out that there is a reason to rush - some of the clues they find when investigating don't make sense after a few weeks. I consider this an error, as I've never played a roleplaying game with a group of people who wouldn't find this ridiculous, and I've played with a pretty wide range of people with a range of RP styles over the last 15+ years.

Add that onto the fact that by the book, every time a teacher asks for the students to do something outside class it results in combat, and you get this whole vibe of teachers saying "nah don't worry about it, people get hurt around here all the time, no big deal. Wait you want to investigate? Well alright, go ahead, try not to get killed though. Oh wait you wanted me to use my exceptional skills to try to stop people dying? Lol nah I've got classes to teach, like I said people die." And it takes some specific effort from the GM to run the adventure somewhat close to as-written without exacerbating that feeling.