Death of a Department Chair

October 1, 2006
Austin University literature professor Miriam Held is the chief suspect in the murder of her department chair, Isabel Vittorio. Miriam and Isabel were lovers years ago, and Isabel recently beat out Miriam for the department-chair position after a bitter battle. They were also at odds over a new minority hire, and Miriam saw Isabel on the afternoon of her death. When it begins to look like someone is trying to frame Miriam, and the police show no inclination to look further than Miriam, she and her friends launch an investigation. Academic politics, diversity issues, infighting, and plagiarism frame the story of a woman who feels she is being railroaded for a crime she didn't commit. The structure of the novel has Miriam editing the story of what happened the previous autumn, a problematic technique as Miriam is not present during all the action, and Isabel's diary reads like dialogue rather than a diary. Still, fans of mysteries set in academia will relish the details of university life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)