A Knife in the Back (Hardcover)

by Bill Crider (Author) "Dr. Sally Good sat at her desk, staring at a stack of ungraded freshman essays that lay amid the clutter, and regretting what she was..." (more)
Key Phrases: prison units, grease pit, chain hoist, Ralph Bostic, Roy Don Talon, Jack Neville (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
In this successor to Murder Is an Art (1999), Dr. Sally Good, head of the English Department at Hughes Community College near Houston, and her colleague Jack Neville team up to solve another murder. An unpopular college trustee is stabbed to death by the knife Jack made in one of the college's continuing-education classes. The police seem disinclined to search further for suspects, so Sally and Jack work to clear Jack's name and find the real killer. Academic politics, Jack's asking Sally for a date, and Sally's attraction to the "built" but dangerous Jorge complicate Sally's life, while the self-effacing, computer-game-addicted Jack can still see the humor in his situation, as evidenced by his witty asides. The relationship between the two likable main characters, the academic setting, and the all-pervasive humor make Crider's latest a pleasant read for cozy fans, especially those who enjoy Charlotte MacLeod's Peter Shandy mysteries. Crider also writes two other, considerably less cozy series, starring Dan Rhodes and Truman Smith, respectively. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
Dr. Sally Good, Chair of the Department of English at Hughes Eommunity College, has uneasily said yes to a date with Jack Neville,another faculty member. Things get a lot more complicated when one of the colleges trustees is brutally murdered, and Jack is arrested for the crime. Its his knife that is found in the dead mans back. Once more, Sally is involved in academic politics and murder, right up to the top of her hard-to-manage hair.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1st edition (September 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312271840
• ISBN-13: 978-0312271848
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,534,421 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Second Sally Good Is Better, April 13, 2003

By	Benjamin Potter "Loom & Wheel" (Mulberry Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews

When Crider takes another stab at Hughes Community College, he hits his target again. Actually, when series sleuth Sally Good finds herself trying to solve another murder connected with the college in order to keep her colleague and "boyfriend"(?) Jack Neville out of prison, she almost lets him down. In the end, she saves the day again, and we get to see her as a pistol-packing English professor to boot.

This second outing with Dr. Sally Good is better than her first (Murder Is an Art), but I'm still waiting for the return of my favorite English professor/sleuth Carl Burns of Hartley-Gorman College. I do suspect that Good will get Better and Better with each new story.

Fans of Crider's writing will not be let down with his latest offering. It is filled with easy-to-read pages of his trademark humor and several likely suspects. If you're not yet hooked on Crider, Hughes Community College is a great place to start.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful interlude -- , May 23, 2005

By	kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Bill Crider specializes in the laid-back, good ol' boy type mystery story that could reasonably only take place in Texas. Logical, because that's where he lives and teaches and writes. Having read-and enjoyed-several in the series about Sheriff Dan Rhodes, I had no hesitation whatever when I encountered this book, the second in this series.

Professor Sally Good is a good-ol boy-er, gal, er, lady in Texas who is the chair of the English Department at a community college just outside Houston. Art imitating life, perhaps? Well, Sally is a lady of a certain age (unspecified, but not exactly a spring chicken) a widow, with a house and a cat, and a libido that would like to be more engaged than it is. Two of the men in her department are of interest to her, which causes her some dismay.

Jack Neville is a nice, charming man who is an excellent teacher. Sally recognizes that latter factor even as she realizes that he doesn't have much effect on her pulse rate. Jorge Rodriguez, on the other hand, is a hunk, but hardly the sort of man she should be thinking of in quite that way. Jorge has done time in the `big house', has tattoos and a lot of raw sex appeal.

When a knife that Jack made in a continuing education class is found in the back of one of the college trustees, the local law enforcement officer is convinced that Jack is the one who put it there. Sally knows better, and the two of them set out to prove that she's right. In addition to another murder, there are a good many detours along the way, and some positively wonderful characterizations of academics and car dealers and other inhabitants of the town. Not to mention that Jack and Sally each have a mother and a cat, who are also given great personalities.

Crider's prose zips right along at maximum speed, and before you quite realize it, the case is solved, and the only remaining mystery is - who will be Sally's next date? I'll hope to find out soon.