BY FREQUENT ANGUISH

by S. F. X. Dean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 24, 1981

When widower-professor Neil Kelly--the 50-ish narrator of this mystery-in-academia trifle--hears that his lovely goddaughter/fincÉe Pril has been murdered in the library, some readers will sign with relief. . . because the cutesy/literary conversations between Neil and Pril give new meaning to the word ""arch."" And indeed this mystery debut does become a bit less precious, though no less talky, as Neil then proceeds to play detective. Among the suspects: Pril's spumed suitor Brian; two women (one a caricatured lesbian-radical) who also made amorous advances; a grotesquely cartoony campus activist who wanted to change his style and go straight, via Pril's literary magazine; and a slimily lecherous professor. But eventually Neil is led into the past, and over to Harvard, to unearth a maniacal literary motive (thoroughly implausible) as well as a 40-year-old murder. Throughout, Dean seems a bit ambivalent about whether he's writing straight or tongue-in-cheek: as a result, the Williams/Amherst-y campus here never rings true in the way that Amanda Cross' academia settings do. And on all counts, in fact, this is best described as a poor man's Amanda Cross (effortfully, rather than effortlessly, erudite)--but the Cross audience may nevertheless want to give it a try.

Pub Date: Jan. 24, 1981

ISBN: 1933397314

Page Count: -

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1981

Categories: FICTION