Bleeding Maize and Blue (Anneke Haagen Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Susan Holtzer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Anneke Haagen Mystery | Publication Date: September 15, 1997

When football and greed collide, the result is sudden death...

In football-obsessed Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan President's Weekend is the biggest event of the season. And this year, computer consultant Anneke Haagen is swept up in the festivities-- her boyfriend, police lieutenant Karl Genesko, is set to be honored as one of Michigan's brightest former football stars. But the weekend quickly sours when Zoe Kaplan, a Michigan Daily student sportswriter, breaks the story of an NCAA probe of UM recruiting...and hours later the agency's investigator turns up murdered on the sacred turf of the stadium end zone.

Genesko finds himself at the head of the investigation, and Anneke can't resist applying her computer skills and analytical mind to the mystery herself. What she finds is a tangle of secrets, lies, and shady deals, with the deepest alumni pockets in the thick of it. And with the university's reputation and big money program at stake, she'd better find the killer's playbook, before she's the next to be sacked...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Even if you're not a devout University of Michigan alumnus and/or football fan, you'll be seduced by the richly detailed background against which Susan Holtzer has set her latest mystery about computer whiz Anneke Haagen and her policeman lover, Lt. Karl Genesko. An NCAA investigator looking at Michigan's recruiting program is killed in the end zone, so Karl and Anneke use their special talents to find out why. The college newspaper milieu is especially well drawn, as a dedicated reporter risks her life to expose a sports scandal.

From Publishers Weekly

Computer programmer Anneke Haagen and Karl Genesko, the former All-American football player who's now an Ann Arbor, Mich., police lieutenant, tackle the unsportsmanlike death of an NCAA investigator in their third outing (following Curly Smoke). University of Michigan newspaper reporter Zoe Kaplan gets the scoop of the decade right before the annual President's Weekend when she learns of an impending NCAA investigation into the school's recruiting practices. As alumni gather, the Pulitzer Prize-winning local sports columnist can't figure out how he was scooped by a college girl. When the dead body of the NCAA inspector is found, stabbed with the pole bearing the blue and gold Michigan banner, Zoe, the columnist, Anneke and Karl are with the group of influential alumni on hand. As the police, led by Karl, look for the killer, Anneke befriends Zoe, agreeing to be the young woman's sounding board now that her sports story has turned into crime news. What emerges is a covert war between college football fanatics and academic supporters, each of whom rates the value of the college experience in a different light. But would anyone in either group kill to protect the teams' national ranking or the money it generates for education? Anneke finds the answer in a laptop for an up-to-the-minute solution to a modern dilemma.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (September 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312962843
• ISBN-13: 978-0312962845
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Fun, February 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Bleeding Maize and Blue (Anneke Haagen Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a cozy mystery addict, and extremely hard to please. This book by Susan Holtzer satisfied my craving for cozy and passed my picky muster. The plotting is a joy, the characters are well-developed and the humor is chuckle-making. Bleeding Maize and Blue is warm, well-written and just too much fun.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Come on Anneke, a little Moxie. Take the Plunge!, June 30, 2005

By 

Larry Scantlebury (Ypsilanti, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bleeding Maize and Blue (Anneke Haagen Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

Excellent stuff. I belong to the Mystery Book Club in the Ypsilanti District Library (sometimes Ann Arbor lets us read their authors) and this was our June read.

A nice story of the NC2A, The Big House, murder most foul, and the struggling relationship that Anneke has with herself. Ah. To surrender to love . . . or not? Susan certainly has the Ann Arbor crowd going. I only got 20 pages before I put on my smoking jacket and put a Miles Davis CD on the Sony. (Sorry it was only a Sony. I wonder if there's a help group in A squared I can join?)

Great fun. Tight descriptions. Lots of characters (don't you love Zoe?) seamlessly introduced. 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for anyone, Ann Arborite or not, July 12, 2004

By 

John A. Dodds (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bleeding Maize and Blue (Anneke Haagen Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

This mystery takes place at the University of Michigan in the mid-'90s. Anyone around town then will find a lot of fun, familiar elements in this book. Early on in the book, a meeting is held in Michigan Stadium, which is unusual but not unknown since the stadium is generally open during the day. For the uninitiated, "maize" is the specific shade of yellow that Michigan uses in its school colors.

There is a lot of journalistic intrigue in the book, too, as a writer for the campus paper (the Michigan Daily) competes for scoops with the Detroit dailies. All in all, it's a fun read.