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Murder is an Art
 
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Murder is an Art [Hardcover]

Bill Crider (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)


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Book Description

April 1999
Dr. Sally Good, head of the English and Fine Arts Division of Hughes Community College in Texas, has her hands full. On top of dealing with numerous complaints from testy faculty members concerning the allocation of the department's budget, she must also conduct an inquiry into the recent misbehavior of the department's philandering art professor, Val Hurley, who stands accused of molesting a young female student. And then there is the complaint lodged against the art department--and namely Val--for displaying what some people see as a satanic painting.

When Val is found bludgeoned to death in his office and the painting in question disappears, it isn't long before the department dissolves into a state of chaos and hysteria. Sally begins to realize that she might be in over her head when the student in question is found murdered shortly thereafter.

The police aren't getting very far with their investigation: Their only tenuous suspect is the victim's husband, who has disappeared. When Sally decides that her insider's knowledge of the department gives her a unique insight into the identity of the murderer, her decision could prove fatal. With a little sleuthing, Sally, aided by attractive fellow professor Jack Neville, uncovers a lot more than she bargained for.



Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Adding to the small but tasty list of mysteries set on college campuses (which include Quieter Than Sleep, The Northbury Papers, and Amanda Cross: The Collected Stories) comes Murder Is an Art. In this fine novel of academe, Bill Crider introduces us to Dr. Sally Good, who heads the English and fine arts departments at Hughes Community College near the Texas Gulf Coast. It's the kind of school where the most popular classes are the ones held in conjunction with nearby prisons, but there are other advantages: the faculty can write articles on Buddy Holly for magazines like Golden Disc instead of becoming mired in pompous literary subjects.

Murder enters the campus scene when a popular art professor's death is linked to sexual shenanigans and/or Satanism. In typical genre style, it's Dr. Good and her 1950s-loving colleague Jack Neville who put aside minor things like running departments and teaching classes in order to track down the killer. Crider, who clearly knows the terrain, makes his academic community amusing as well as moving. --Dick Adler

From Publishers Weekly

Best known for his Sheriff Dan Rhodes series, Crider here introduces Dr. Sally Good, chair of the division of arts and humanities at a small college in Texas. Though bickering is normal among the professors, someone goes too far when the art department chair, Val Hurley, is found murdered in his office. Suspecting a connection with the disappearance of a controversial painting, Good grows disappointed with police efforts and decides to solve the case with the help of her colleague, Professor Jack Neville. Hurley had recently come before the college president for painting a student, Tammi Thompson, in the nude, and police fear Tammi's jealous husband may have committed the murder. Another suspect is A.B.D. Johnson, a muckraking colleague who was appalled by Val's cavalier use of school funds. While Crider's quirky characters entertainAjust as did the characters in his previous campus series, featuring Professor Carl BurnsAit seems odd that these academic gumshoes are never in a classroom and spend little time dealing with students. Their sleuthings provide modest fun, while the novel's ending offers an unexpected tinge of sadness.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (April 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312199279
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312199272
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,209,343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and brought up in Mexia (that's pronounced Muh-HAY-uh by the natives), Texas, went to college at The University of Texas and North Texas State University, and taught high school and college classes for many years. In 1992 I retired as Chair of the Division of English and Fine Arts at Alvin Community College, in Alvin, Texas. I'm married to the lovely Judy, and we have two grown children, Angela, who's an attorney in San Francisco, and Allen, who's in the music business in Austin. Other than that, I'm a pretty boring guy.

 

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars More Wonderful Characters from Crider, May 26, 1999
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This review is from: Murder is an Art (Hardcover)
Bill Crider has started yet another winning combination with Sally Good and Jack Neville. They leave the reader asking, will we see them again? They are great new friends. The characters are the high point of this new novel from the author of the Dan Rhodes series and the Truman Smith private eye novels. MURDER IS AN ART displays the readable style Crider fans have come to expect. What we don't expect is the broadcast of part of the solution that is usually hidden well enough to keep the reader guessing. This minor glitch in the story line does not keep us from enjoying another winner from the master of the small town whodunnit. Take us back to Hughes soon, Dr. Crider.
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