LINQ Query returning an empty result

I am fairly new to LINQ and am having problems with a query. var LoadDetentionTypes = _db.Settings_DetentionTypes .Where(f => SchoolAreaList.Any(s => f.SchoolArea.Equals(s))) .Select(i => new { i.DetailsforDetentionToShow, i.DetentionTypeDescription, i.DetentionTypeCode }); SchoolAreaList is an array and holds say for example two values: BMS and BSS f.SchoolArea is a column in the database and can hold values in the format ["BMS", "BSS"] I am trying to do a query that will check if any of the values in the array are in the database and if there is a match it selects the record. The problem is that this query continually returns an empty result. Before using Equals, I used Contains, but I received an error. Am I trying to do too much in a single line and should I break it up with a ForEach on the array and add to a list? Any help would be much appreciated. Regards, Darren