Tropic of Murder

The Nick Hoffman series is a literary mystery reader's dream: witty dialogue, pungent description, above-board plotting (that is, no cheating on the reader), and two leads with intelligence, insight, and affection. In fact, the relationship of the two is one of the series' best attributes: a mystery in which the romantic protagonists are *convincingly* comfortable (and as entertaining to us as they are to themselves) is surprisingly rare in the mystery world. I want to add one thing to the plot descriptions in the other reviews: In this supposed Paradise, Raphael can tell us precisely where a VacationLand's staff-worker is positioned in its hierarchy. He does it with rare wit: sometimes he can corner a character in four words. (The enviable gift of laconic description served Raphael's academic satires* well, and it really blazes forth in "The German Money", where volumes of meaning are encoded, sometimes trapped, in the filial protagonists' relationships.) Like those actors who can speak volumes with a raised eyebrow, Raphael has a knack for making a paragraph say two pages' worth. Few writers twice as famous can do half as much. Tropic of Murder, like the other Nick Hoffman books and unlike most mystery novels, can be REread with pleasure. *I worked across the street from Princeton University for 12 years; and God, do I know these people.

Lev Raphael has done it again! His latest Nick Hoffman mystery, number six in the series, is witty, insightful and touching. This time Nick and his partner Stefan try to escape the tribulations and absurdities of petty academic politics for a Caribbean paradise - which turns out to have intrigues of its own. Raphael moves deftly from the academic scene of his previous novels to a luxurious Club Med setting, where murder soon complicates the idyllic escape. Raphael has a sharp eye and ear. Nick and Stefan come to life in their witty repartee and keen observations of guests and staff in this lush paradise. This novel also has a bittersweet, touching quality that makes one ponder the greater issues of life. This series gets better and better. Bravo! Rudite and David Robinson

The story flowes very fast without a confusion of suspects and misleading red herrings. A relief also not to have the main characters, Nick and Stefan unduly harrased as the primary criminal suspects. The story and characters are very easy to relate to with great references to contempory people and events. An excellent book.

In Lev Raphael's latest in the Nick Hoffman series, the author takes the reader on a journey to a tropic locale. In this setting, Nick and his partner Stefan find themselves searching for answers surrounding increasingly mysterious circumstances. Raphael's book is so much more than a mere mystery. The typical novel in this genre paints a portrait that is often predictably dull, with a two-dimensional main character that solves some horrid murder and saves the day. But Nick Hoffman is not the typical, banal, cardboard cut-out hero. He is a three-dimensional, complex character, a person with strengths as well as weaknesses. It is impossible not to relate to Nick as he sorts through conflicted emotions, as he works through anger, as he confronts life and death issues, as he lives his life with all of its twists and turns. Raphael's writing is intelligent, witty, compelling and so darn good that I felt as if I were standing right next to Nick, watching the colorful Club Med guests, tasting various delicacies at the buffet, or holding my breath as a body floats in the pool. Raphael has an uncanny gift for making his readers see, hear, smell, taste and feel all that the main character is experiencing. The words paint a picture so vivid, it is impossible not to get swept away. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am eagerly awaiting Nick's next adventure.

As usual, things are in an uproar in Nick Hoffman's St. Univ. of Michigan department. The provost, Merry Ginka, appoints the least likely candidate chairman of the department, bypassing the usual election process. Peter deJonge, a graduate student, has asked Nick to do some "detecting" for him. Nick is thinking about that and he's thinking about whether or not he might be bisexual, as he keeps finding himself susceptible to the attractions of Juno, a flamboyant professor in his department. Stefen, Nick's pardner, had been planning for them to have a tropical vacation for spring break in March, but decides they need one now and off they go to a Club Med on Serenity, a fictional Carribbean island. One of the first people to approach Nick on the beach is deJong, the graduate student. He'd learned from Stefan where they were going and had brought his problem with him. Oh, and there are intrigues among the Club Med staff and one of the fellow guests is a hot new writer that Stefen hates and probably envies. There are other colorful characters and eventually a murder. This, as with the last couple of these Nick Hoffman mysteries, is not a typical murder mystery. It breaks most of the traditions of the genre, the major crime occurs far into the story, the perpetrator is often a surprise and the reader is seldom given enough clues to figure it out for him or herself. But the book is a stimulating read, very erudite. I usually have an English and a French dictionary hardy. The quotes sprinkled throughout are thought provoking. And a good deal of it is funny, the kind of sauciness that makes me chuckle outloud, all by myself. I recommend this book.