Murder Is Academic: A Cambridge Mystery

Although I can't quite put my finger on it, there is something refreshing about Christine Poulson's "Murder is Academic." Perhaps its the mysterious East Anglian countryside atmospherics, perhaps its the quirky narrator who doesn't seem to fully grasp that she is in the middle of a whodunit, or maybe its just the breezy writing style that the author uses to bring her story to life. Whatever it is, I have to say that I found this first novel both enjoyable and engrossing. In many ways the book follows the steretypical structure of the classic English murder mystery, but it does so in ways that are quirky enough to catch the reader off guard. Instead of an English manor we find ourselves wandering the halls of academia, following the slightly eccentric narrator as she frets over whether or not she and her colleagues will be able to publish enough books and articles to keep the English department open for business. Between departmental meetings and the like the bodies pile up, and there is just enough tension and suspense to keep you reading. But the author is not the brooding type, and so she gives us plenty to giggle about as well. There is an amusing subplot, involving a dotty old professor who thinks that the ghost of Arthur Conan Doyle is narrating his next book for him, and that makes for a great of hilarity. Indeed, the novel is filled with all manner of oddball scenarios and situations and, on the whole, it works. And, wouldn't you know?, the crimes even get solved along the way. It's a light-hearted, even up-beat kind of murder mystery but, hey, its all in good fun.

A professor at St. Ethelreda's College at Cambridge University, Cassandra James is quite content with the life she has made for herself. She is in an exclusive relationship with Stephen, a well known lawyer, and lives in quaint cottage with her cat. One day when she goes to the home of the head of her department Margaret she finds papers lying on the ground in no particular order and in the swimming pool. She tries to get them out but sees Margaret lying lifeless in the pool.At her husband's request, she goes through Margaret's papers and finds that her head was having an affair with her student Lucy. Lucy died several months ago climbing down a cliff. The authorities think she slipped and hit her head. Cassandra wonders if two deaths could be linked but keeps her suspicions to herself that is until a second student is attacked and later dies. Cassandra has her hands full because she is made the acting head of her department and is pregnant but she still has time to see if the three deaths are connected and if so who is behind the killings.Readers who adore academic mysteries will like MURDER IS ACADEMIC an amateur sleuth tale that is filled with unexpected twists and turns and plenty of red herrings. The cast is simply brilliant as well as realistic because they behave in ways according to their character. The heroine's relationship with her lover evolves over the course of Christine Poulson's tale and readers will find themselves reading for them to make their relationship legal, that is if she can survive her current crisis. MURDER IS ACADEMIC is a treat for mystery fans.Harriet Klausner