Customer Reviews

Murder at the B-School

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rebeccasreads recommends MURDER AT THE B-SCHOOL as a thoughtful thriller, although the protagonists are in need of more passion as they tend to talk in lectures. However, Jeffrey Cruikshank does have a way with words, a fine sense of humor, an aptitude for suspense, & has the makings of a mystery writer to watch out for.

The background for this murderous tale is Harvard Business School, aka The 'B-School'. Boston Police descend upon the school when the school's golden boy, Eric MacInnes, the son of a wealthy dynasty is found dead in a Jacuzzi after hours in a locked building.

A descendant of the 17th century Dutch painter, Wim Vermeer, is a teacher on The 'B-School' faculty who not only fears his career is on the line, but is stunned when this "freak" accident appears to look like an ingenious murder. He soon finds himself suspect in the case.

Dean Bishop assigns Vermeer the task of liaison between Harvard and the MacInnes who are demanding answers. The lead investigator in the case is Captain Barbara Brouillard, nicknamed by the department as 'Ms. Biz', also known for making up her own rules. She takes a liking to Vermeer, but isn't sure if he's an asset or an impediment to her investigation.

Desperate to clear himself and discover the truth, Wim begins his own investigation into the case.

Corpses begin to pile up, when Libby, the MacInnes' daughter, is found murdered. Both rumors, as well as computer evidence begin to point towards Wim Vermeer. It doesn't take long for Vermeer to realize he's been setup for a devious cover-up. With secrets unraveling, and higher members of the faculty being held responsible, the atmosphere in the halls of the Harvard Business School quickly tense.

Jeffrey Cruikshank's descriptive settings of Boston, Cambridge and the Harvard Campus, New York and Puerto Rico help create an interesting debut novel, although the story is somewhat slow to start. However, there are enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing.

Reviewed by Betsie

When a student from a wealthy family, think Rockefeller or Vanderbilt, is found dead in a campus hot tub, the dean of the Harvard Business School asks an untenured finance professor to provide assistance to the student's family. At the same time, a Boston police detective investigates the death and finds evidence of foul play. The detective and professor team up to determine what happened.

I'm a fan of the mystery genre, particularly mysteries where the detective isn't a police officer. I also have a graduate degree in finance, so I expected to love this novel. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The book's description is misleading in that it implies the professor will solve the case. In truth, the police detective does most of the work. I'd hoped to be given more insight into the inner world of a top tier B-school. Instead, Harvard serves merely as the setting for a stock mystery. This could have just as easily been Murder at Harvard or Murder in Cambridge. The professor didn't seem authentic for a tenure track finance professor at Harvard. He's lackadaisical while I suspect most of them are very intelligent and ambitious. I also expected him to use his unique skills to solve the mystery, similar to how Michael Connelly used a biotech engineer's skills of logic and reasoning to solve a mystery in Chasing the Dime, but that wasn't the case. When John Grisham writes about a lawyer or Michael Crichton writes about a doctor solving a mystery, it's clear they've been there and know what they're talking about. It's obvious this author hasn't been to B-school. He's probably walked across Harvard's campus but that's about it. That's as much of Harvard Business School as you'll get from this story.

On the whole, the book was a pleasant enough experience. The plot flowed smoothly and created enough interest to keep me reading. The protagonists made decent companions for a month's worth of commutes on the train but I don't think I'd be apt to look for a sequel or read anything else by this author. Don't pay retail for this but if you see it in the library or in a bargain bin and like a pleasant mystery that doesn't ask too much from you, then this is worth the read.

Jeffrey Cruikshank is a good writer, but in the end I found MURDER AT THE B-SCHOOL to be rather flat. My major problem with the novel is the rather bland characterization. In particular, I found the lead character, Professor Wim Vermeer, to be a remarkably colorless individual. I also found the plot somewhat slow-moving, with very little suspense until the last 50 or so pages.

Also, I would not buy this novel if you're interested in the Harvard Business School and its inner workings. This book actually has very little to do with the school or business in general. It is instead a straighforward whodunit that happens to take place at Harvard. Most of the action in this novel takes place off-campus.

In the end, I can't recommend this book because I think there are far superior mysteries out there. In particular, I recommend the work of William Kent Krueger, Jacqueline Winspear, and Michael Connelly.

Harvard Business School student Eric MacInnes is found drowned in a hot tub in the recreation center of the Harvard Business School. The discovery of Eric's body launches a series of questions. How did he gain access to the building? Was his death an accident or murder? Will Eric's death ruin the relationship that Harvard has with his super-rich family?

The Harvard Business School Dean assigns one of his junior faculty members, finance professor Wim Vermeer, to return Eric's belongings to the family. In the process, Prof. Vermeer finds himself sucked into the school and family politics surrounding Eric's death, and ultimately he ends up working with the Boston Police Captain investigating the death, Captain Barbara Brouillard. Author Cruikshank has penned a terrific character in Prof. Wim Vermeer....a "not-quite-good-enough-for Harvard" professor who is basically a good guy.

There are a few plot weaknesses, especially towards the end; however, the story overall was really enjoyable. I hope Mr. Cruikshank writes a second novel featuring the further adventures of Prof. Vermeer and Capt. Brouillard.

For a first time novel this is an excellent story. It has a good plot line, and great descriptions.

The conservative Harvard Business School is one of the most prestigious learning centers in the world; so no one could imagine a murder occurring there. Yet that is what happened to student Eric MacInnes, a member of a very wealthy family. The lad somehow entered a locked area where a whirlpool was located; someone knocked him over the head killing him. Trying to avoid bad PR and wanting to keep on the good side of the MacInnes kin, Dean Bishop appoints Assistant Professor Wim Verneer as liaison between the college and the family.

Wim is shocked to hear rumors that he had an affair with Eric. Police Captain Barbara Bouillard hears the same gossip, which makes Wim a suspect. E-mail proves that Eric and Wim communicated, but the professor denies this ever happened. Things turn worse for Wim when he meets and goes to dinner with Eric's sister Libby; not long afterward she was found strangled to death. Wim knows that someone is framing him. He begins his own inquiries that lead to Upstate New York and Vieques off eastern Puerto Rico.

MURDER AT THE B-SCHOOL is a well written exciting police procedural and amateur sleuth tale. At times adversaries and at times allies, the captain and the professor make inquiries from different perspectives, but draw the same conclusions. They make excellent partners, who deserve co-featuring in future mysteries. Jeffrey Cruikshank will keep his fans satisfied with this winning who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

I enjoyed reading Murder at the B-School and would like to read more Jeffrey Cruikshank novels. I thought that it was well-written and had a very interesting plot which the author developed in a way that kept me turning pages.

Good read. Richly textured with nice portrayals for the Harvard area of Cambridge and vicinity. Richly developed characters as well. The author's familiarity with the business school environment makes for a credible story. Also, the increasing complexity of the tale pulls the reader in. If you like stories with people from different socio-economic strata crossing paths, this one is for you.

Harvard Business School is not a place one usually associates with murder. But when a very rich young man is found floating face-down in a campus hot tub, the Harvard administrators are anxious to keep a lid on any bad publicity. To that end, the Dean of the prestigious Business School personally appoints Wim Vermeer to interface with the police. Vermeer is a strange choice, far off the hot career track and probably not in line for tenure. With diminishing prospects, Wim, a distant relative of the artist, throws himself into the distraction of Eric MacInnes' death.

Boston police captain Barbara Brouillard isn't sure if Wim is an asset or an impediment to her investigation, but decides he may be useful for now. She realizes that the hapless professor may have an inside track on the workings of the financial world, not to mention his willingness to cooperate.

Things get more convoluted the more Wim uncovers and Brouillard intuits, both struggling to assemble pieces that never seem to fit together. Interested in the details of the MacInnes family fortune, Wim forms a quasi-alliance with the patriarch of the family, but the wild card is Eric's younger brother, James, who displays an excess of aggression. Just how James fits into the picture is one of those tantalizing questions.

However, as the body count rises, Wim looks more and more suspect. Is he extraordinarily clever or is this a masterful setup? Although the reader has a good idea about the good guys, the bad guys are much more skillful at camouflaging the motives for murder. From Boston to New York to Puerto Rico, whoever is manipulating events has carefully planned his actions with no intention of getting caught. So much for best laid plans. Luan Gaines/2004.