The Death of a Constant Lover: A Nick Hoffman Mystery (Nick Hoffman Mysteries) [Paperback]

Lev Raphael (Author)

Book Description

Series: Nick Hoffman Mysteries | Publication Date: May 22, 2000

Nick Hoffman's been warned by his chair at the State University of Michigan to avoid trouble if he has any hopes of getting tenure. But his presence at the scene of a murder that involves a favorite student immediately threatens his position at the university, and soon after, his life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Studying at the (fictional) State University of Michigan can be murder--at least in Lev Raphael's brittle, bright, and brash books about Nick Hoffman.

Hoffman teaches in the university's EAR (English, American Studies, Rhetoric) department and is very popular with his students. However, he has just turned 40 and is seriously worried about getting tenure. Also, his supervisors tend to view him as an under-published scholar, and, with some justification, a walking crime zone. The truth is that Nick attracts murder like a magnet. This time out, a student named Jesse Benevento--son of a history professor--is stabbed to death before Nick's very eyes during a campus riot. Nick and his novelist lover, Stefan Borowski, are sucked into a case that turns even uglier when a second murder occurs. As Nick struggles to solve the murders, his colleagues whine and bicker, a graduate student stalks him, and more violence erupts on campus.

If you like the way Raphael puts the camp into campus, his two previous titles, The Edith Wharton Murders and Let's Get Criminal, are both available in paperback. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

If Nick Hoffman ever gets the tenure he craves at the State University of Michigan, the body count could be staggering. Raphael's latest is just the third in this bright series (after 1997's The Edith Wharton Murders), and already the campus is littered with corpses. Hoffman, who has just turned 40, teaches in the university's EAR (English, American Studies, Rhetoric) department and is very popular with his studentsAalthough somewhat less so with his supervisors, who understandably view him as a crime magnet. Nick might not be as cool a crime solver as Kate Fansler, the Harvard prof star of Amanda Cross's brainy mysteries, but he's refreshingly open about his sexual preference (gay), his religion (Jewish) and his lack of reverence for the world of academia. (Talking about a campus crime wave, he says, "Assaults were up, bicycle thefts were up, and more flashers were reported in the library. As a bibliographer, I found that particularly depressing, because it was bound to give students the wrong idea about research.") When a vindictive student named Jesse Benevento is stabbed to death during a mini-riot, Hoffman and his novelist lover, Stefan Borowski, are plunged into a darkly amusing diversion involving French fiction (a novel by Benjamin Constant plays an important role) and professional and personal jealousies. This is sneaky, subversive funAthe perfect read to cut a class for.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Stonewall Inn Mysteries; 1st edition (May 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312264968
• ISBN-13: 978-0312264963
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,278,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lev Raphael has wanted to be an author since he was in second grade, and he's not only achieved his dream, he's published 19 books in genres from memoir to mystery; had his books translated into nearly a dozen languages; appeared in two documentaries; won various prizes; done hundreds of invited talks and readings on three different continents; recently sold his literary papers (92 boxes!) to the Michigan State University Libraries (MSUL); been the subject of scholarly articles, papers and book chapters; and seen his work taught at colleges and universities around the country. Which means he's become homework. Who knew?

Born and raised in New York, he got over it and has spent half his life in Michigan. He's a pioneer in writing about children of Holocaust survivors, which he's been doing since 1978, longer than almost any other American author. He frequently tours with his books (check http://www.levraphael.com for his current schedule) and is currently touring with My Germany, a memoir/travelogue exploring the role Germany has played in his family, his life, and his career. After he escaped academe to write full-time, he reviewed extensively for over a decade for the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Radio, The Washington Post, Jerusalem Report, The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Forward, Boston Review, and Lambda Book Report. He now reviews for Bibliobuffet.com and WKAR 90.5 FM/East Lansing Public Radio, and when he's not busy, he sometimes imagines some graduate student years from now in the MSUL archives puzzling over his handwriting.

A seasoned reader of his own work, with a background in theater and teaching, he loves the performance aspect of touring, as well as meeting people he'd never meet back home. And the sightseeing. And the foreign foods. German fans in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hannover, Magdeburg, Dessau and Halle will get to hear him next fall. Stay tuned to this page or check his web site for details of his next German book tour. For photos and description of previous sones, go to http://www.levraphael.com/europe_photos.html.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Academic satire series acquires darker edge, September 3, 2000

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of a Constant Lover: A Nick Hoffman Mystery (Nick Hoffman Mysteries) (Paperback)

If you can't go home again, you can always return for a visit or two. Self-described recovering academic Lev Raphael left university teaching for a full-time writing career. In between producing more literary works -- a novel, a collection of short stories and an analysis of Edith Wharton's fiction -- he's also written three witty mysteries skewing the academic world he left.

His comic alter ego, Nick Hoffman, came to the State University of Michigan to teach classes in the English, American Studies and Rhetoric Department and to be with Stefan, his partner. He also wants to make tenure. But his sharp tongue, lack of allies and preference for teaching over research hurts his chances enough if it weren't for all the bodies he keeps discovering.

By the time Raphael's third book opens, Hoffman's career is foundering and sinking fast. His involvement as amateur detective has brought unfavorable publicity to the university, and his chances darken further by simply being within eyeshot of a murder -- this time of a young man killed during a melee between a campus preacher and a group of students.

"The Death of a Constant Lover" -- the title is a reference to 19th-century English novelist Benjamin Constant --is more a novel of university life and politics than a murder mystery. The investigation moves in fits and starts as Hoffman finds himself also dealing with other problems: death threats are being sent to his office mate, a woman hired to fulfill SUM's diversity quota, and the effect on his relationship with Stefan when he is dropped by his publisher.

Raphael's third book is slightly darker than his first two. Hoffman's joie de vive is dampened by the violence around him, making "Death of a Constant Lover" not so much a darker book -- we're not talking about James Ellroy here -- but simply not as bright and vivacious than the first two books. That's not a criticism so much as an observation that Raphael has put his finger on a key problem with the detecting genre. Death is serious business, and cracking jokes like Noel Coward around the body doesn't ring true. And yet, some sense of humor is needed to keep one from turning Gothic. Homicide detectives and crime reporters tend to develop a callous form that can be shocking to those who The tradeoff here is that Raphael has a sure grasp of his leading characters, and "Constant Lover" is a deeper and more thoughtful mystery that approaches the depth of P.D. James or Martha Grimes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved LOVER!, February 6, 2000

By 

a mystery buff (Escondido, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of a Constant Lover: A Nick Hoffman Mystery (Walker Mystery) (Hardcover)

Lev Raphael is our star reporter from the brutal battlefield of academia, and readers couldn't have a wittier, more seasoned correspondent. If you've ever spent time at a university, you'll howl at his portrayals of petty bureaucrats, self-important scholars, groveling grad students, and snarky professors. Thank goodness Professor Nick Hoffman has his rock-steady friend and lover Stefan to lean on, because it's a jungle out there at the State University of Michigan. If you're looking for a dumbed-down mystery you'd better take a pass, because Raphael assumes intelligence on the part of his readers. That's a treat in itself, but the real payoff with Raphael's work can be found in the deeper themes beneath the laughs: The magic of beauty; the power of love and acceptance; the redeeming nature of faith. LOVER is a wonderful read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Death of a Constant Lover: A Nick Hoffman Mystery (Walker Mystery) (Hardcover)

Lev Raphael has somehow managed to top his first two mysteries with this wonderful sequel. His characters are fresh and alive, the writing is witty and intelligent, and the plot is anything but predictable. Raphael is one of the few authors who can leave me laughing out loud on a crowded metro. I am not a mystery fan by nature, but have read all three of his mysteries, and will continue to do so. If you are looking for an entertaining novel that is both shrewd and playful, and that assumes intelligence on your part, this is it.