When his beloved copy of the Oxford English Dictionary falls from its perch and cracks the skull of Professor Parkinson, few of his colleagues seem to notice—and fewer seem to mind. Did it jump or was it pushed? Only Erica Duncan, a newly appointed Assistant Professor of English, questions the events surrounding the mysterious death of the resident medievalist, a topic that her colleagues studiously avoid.
Talented author Laura Shea gives us a look behind the scenes into the jealousies and jockeying for position on the staff of a university. A well-told tale with realistic characters driving the story.
--New Mystery Reader
Laura Shea’s first novel is a must read for fans of the academic mystery. --Bookreads
Laura Shea
Mysteries
Are you looking for a cozy mystery that's a fast, fun read? Found it!
Erica Duncan and Alan DeLorme are spending a few weeks at the summer theater where Alan will make his directorial debut, with Erica as his assistant. They think their biggest problem will be injecting some life into a play that reads more like a manifesto than a drama. After two murders into two weeks, they're not so sure. Although Erica plans to steer clear of the murders, as well as the pot-bellied pig that roams the grounds, she is surrounded by people who can act anything convincingly, even their own innocence.
Between the two hives of activity--the theater program amd the bee keepers--there is no shortage of queen bees at Canfield College. This cross-pollination comes to an unfortunate end when a student, hiding in the theater in hopes of seeing the resident ghost, is found dead. Erica promised to stay away from solving murders, but the evidence is hard to ignore.
Starting a new job in the producer’s office at the prestigious People’s Theater, Erica Duncan soon discovers that the position holds more drama than expected. In search of its next big hit, the theater is presenting Michelangelo: The Musical, focusing on the life and loves of the artist. When an unassuming co-worker is found murdered in the theater lobby, her body posed in a copy of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Man, this is the kind of publicity that the show does not need. At the People's Theater, Erica assumes the role of detective, never an easy part, especially in a place when almost everyone is an actor, and self-invention is a way of life.
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When his beloved copy of the Oxford English Dictionary falls from its perch and cracks the skull of pedantic Professor Parkinson, few of his colleagues seem to notice and fewer seem to care. Only newly appointed assistant professor Erica Duncan questions the events surrounding the mysterious death, a topic that her colleagues studiously avoid.
Murder She Wrote
Mystery fiction is generally divided into two categories, the hard-boiled and the cozy. Typically, the hard-boiled detective is a solitary figure who walks the mean and often rain-swept streets of a major city in pursuit of justice, whatever that means in the morally relative—at times, corrupt—universe that the detective inhabits. Traditionally, that city is Los Angeles, but at this point, pick anywhere on the map. This investigator acts according to a moral code from which he—or she—never waivers. The violence committed by the perpetrator or by the detective is right there on the page (and in this context, it can be hard to tell them apart), as is the sexual content of the novel. Although the detective may be a solitary figure, living and working alone, the investigator does take time out for a liaison or two, often with someone who may or may not be in handcuffs at the conclusion of the case. The hard-boiled detective bears the scars of this profession, which can include not only physical injuries but the deeper emotional wounds that take longer to heal. And there is often a more-than-medicinal dose of alcohol to lubricate the lonely nights experienced by an individual who still operates according to a clear sense of right and wrong, at times hampered by a justice system that appears to have forgotten the difference.
Murder at the People’s Theater falls under the category of cozy. The cozy is supposed to serve up a more “genteel” form of murder. Violence is underplayed and sexual activity can be suggested but occurs offstage. This detective is often an amateur, unlike the hard-boiled detective for whom it’s not just a job but a life. The amateur and, at times, unwilling detective holds tight to a moral compass that directs her—or him—to do the right thing, even when deterred or actively discouraged by those who insist that he or she move on, nothing to see here. The detective in a cozy could well be risking his or her (day) job but still persists, even when faced with polite but pointed threats to life and limb. The hard-boiled detective may work alone, but the detective in cozy fiction is part of a community: a theater or a college are two that spring immediately to my mind. Essential to the cozy is an understanding of the world in which the mystery unfolds, the code by which this culture operates providing an essential clue to the solution of the mystery itself.
In the twenty-first century, we have come a long way from the cozy being the exclusive domain of ladies who sip tea at garden parties and wear funny hats. But it would be inaccurate to suggest that the cozy is a “kinder, gentler” form of murder. Yes, the detective usually emerges from the experience physically unharmed, but the same cannot be said for the murder victim, who still dies a violent death at the hands of another. (Based on my first two novels, I have a thing for head wounds, apparently.) And the cozy does what all mysteries do: after the murder, we learn unflattering information about the victim in order to shift the emphasis from sympathy for the deceased to solving the case. Making the victim less sympathetic cannot change or erase the fact that we have someone who has been handed a punishment far worse that the wrongs, real or imagined, that he or she may have committed because someone has decided to serve as judge, jury, and executioner. But the point of the exercise, for both the amateur and the professional detective, as well as the reading audience, is to solve the crime, so that is where the emphasis should be.
--Laura Shea
A longer version can be found at
Iona English, A Locale for the Literati