Bleeding Maize and Blue

Excellent stuff. I belong to the Mystery Book Club in the Ypsilanti District Library (sometimes Ann Arbor lets us read their authors) and this was our June read. A nice story of the NC2A, The Big House, murder most foul, and the struggling relationship that Anneke has with herself. Ah. To surrender to love . . . or not? Susan certainly has the Ann Arbor crowd going. I only got 20 pages before I put on my smoking jacket and put a Miles Davis CD on the Sony. (Sorry it was only a Sony. I wonder if there's a help group in A squared I can join?) Great fun. Tight descriptions. Lots of characters (don't you love Zoe?) seamlessly introduced. 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

This mystery takes place at the University of Michigan in the mid-'90s. Anyone around town then will find a lot of fun, familiar elements in this book. Early on in the book, a meeting is held in Michigan Stadium, which is unusual but not unknown since the stadium is generally open during the day. For the uninitiated, "maize" is the specific shade of yellow that Michigan uses in its school colors.There is a lot of journalistic intrigue in the book, too, as a writer for the campus paper (the Michigan Daily) competes for scoops with the Detroit dailies. All in all, it's a fun read.

I am a cozy mystery addict, and extremely hard to please. This book by Susan Holtzer satisfied my craving for cozy and passed my picky muster. The plotting is a joy, the characters are well-developed and the humor is chuckle-making. Bleeding Maize and Blue is warm, well-written and just too much fun.