Customer Reviews

Deadmistress

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Professor Susan Lombardi learns that her close friend John is the police's prime suspect in the murder of headmistress, Sabena Lazlo. Susan used to teach at Wintonbury Academy and knows the faculty well. She can't believe John would have killed her. Even though he had threatened her the day before at a faculty meeting. But many people didn't like Sabena. Susan isn't sure there are many people who like her. She was the reason Susan had left.

Susan decides to try to help clear John. Since she knows the faculty, she feels she can find out information the police may not be able to discover as easily. She gets permission to talk to the faculty from Granny Smith who is helping to run the school in Sabena's absence. Plus she enlists the help of her husband, Swash, and her Private Investigator friend, Mark.

The deeper Susan digs, the more secrets about the faculty and students she discovers. John is definitely not the only person with a motive for murdering Sabena. But can Susan figure out who the real killer is among all the suspects?

I found this mystery to be very enjoyable. It is a quick read. Susan is such a likeable character. The faculty and students at the Academy are very believable. The plot is well written, and there are enough suspects to make it difficult to figure out the killer.

I hope Ms. Shmurak writes more in this series. I highly recommend it.

Susan Lombardi is a professor at a Connecticut university who used to teach at an exclusive private girl's school. She left Wintonbury Academy and moved on to the university because of conflicts with the school's headmistress, Sabena Lazlo, the murder victim.
We learn about her death on the very first page of the book. Susan is appalled because a good friend, John deHavilland, who still teaches at Wintonbury, is the primary suspect. She decides to look into the crime to see if she can clear John. While following her investigation we're introduced to an interesting cast of characters, her best friend, Elaine, Swash, her likeable husband, Mark, a former adult student with a P.I. license, as well as numerous instructors and students at the girl's school. There is a sub-plot involving a conflict with a manipulative professor at the university, etc.
The story is told exclusively through Susan's point of view, which helps us to identify with her. The descriptions of the characters are good, enabling the reader to "see" them in the mind's eye. The quotes that introduce each short chapter are fun, and the whole thing comes to a very satisfactory conclusion in the last couple of chapters. My only complaint is that I would have liked more story, a bit longer would have been great.

The principal of an exclusive girls' school is murdered, and a depressing number of people are pleased by this. A former colleague-anxious to clear the name of her friend, the number one suspect-reluctantly plays the role of detective. This book harkens the best P.D. James mysteries.

Susan Lombardi left her teaching position at Wintonbury Academy 5 years ago partly because of conflicts with the headmistress, Sabina Lazlo. While on the way to a meeting at the college where she now works, Susan hears on the radio that the headmistress is dead of a gunshot wound. Fortunately, Susan is doing research at the Academy, so she has good reason to be on campus. As soon as she can, she goes to the academy to talk to some of the staff to see what they know about the shooting. That's when she discovers that John DeHaviland, a history teacher and a good friend, is apparently the main suspect. Not believing that he is capable of murder, Susan sets out to find out all she can about the murdered woman's past, but also discovers a great deal about current activities of the students and faculty at the academy.

This is an enjoyable, well-written mystery that moves along at a good pace. I also liked that the author included a map of the campus and a cast of characters. (I wish more authors did this.) I hope this is the start of a series, because Susan is a likeable character, and I am looking forward to reading more about her and her husband in future adventures.

I liked the plot of the book. However, the ending was rather lame. Three laymen sitting around solving a murder while one of them puts the data on a computer and all of a sudden the main character figures out who-done-it. Really couldn't buy that angle. Otherwise it was good reading.