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Publisher:
Perseverance Press |
Release
Date: Sept. 18, 2004 |
ISBN:
1880284685 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Trade paperback |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Mystery |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Barbara Buhrer |
Reviewer
Notes: |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
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Tropic of Murder
A Nick
Hoffman mystery
By Lev Raphael
It is winter and cold
at the State University of Michigan. But the temperature at the
English department is very hot. The provost is about to appoint
a new chair for Nick Hoffman's department. Nick is an untenured
professor of English composition, and an Edith Wharton scholar.
He also has a dubious reputation for solving mysteries on campus,
which doesn't set well with the administration. He has been asked
by Peter deJonge, a graduate student, to investigate whether or
not these events are connected with similar events in the small
college town of Neptune where he works. Appointment of an unpopular
and perhaps unqualified professor to chair the department deposes
the acting chair who had expected the appointment.
Stefan Borowski, Nick's
partner and writer-in-residence at the college feels they should
put the winter and the furor behind them. He books a vacation for
them at a Club Med on Serenity Island.
The climate is certainly
an improvement over the Michigan winter, but the atmosphere is as
turbulent. Nick becomes involved with the various staff members
of the resort. The manager, Bruno Zaragossa, is an Edith Wharton
fan and seeks Nick's scholarly advice. When Bruno is found murdered,
Nick finds himself involved in seeking his killer. The suspects
unfortunately include deJonge, who, with his family, is also vacationing
there, and a French literary critic and her lover.
This is a light-hearted,
witty story with a host of colorful characters. There are glimpses
of the politics of the world of academia. The atmosphere both of
Michigan (cold and dreary} and of Serenity Island (balmy and tropical)
are very realistically described. The major crime occurs far into
the story with the background fully depicted. There aren't that
many clues given to the reader, so the murderer comes as a surprise.
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