Stump Speech Murder

Pamela Barnes Acoustic Mystery #4

by Patricia Rockwell

James Grant, a young politician with everything going for him, including the most recent polls, gives a rousing stump speech in a local park. His campaign for mayor against the entrenched incumbent looks unstoppable. That is, until the police discover him standing over his wife’s dead body with the murder weapon in his hands.

It certainly looks as if James is guilty. But psychologist and acoustics expert Pamela Barnes has other ideas–and they include helping this young man prove his innocence and succeed in his bid for mayor.

Can Pamela’s knowledge of sound help her find the real killer and exonerate James? Or will this young politician’s most recent stump speech be his last?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2012

About the author

Patricia Rockwell has spent most of her life teaching. From small liberal arts colleges to large regional research universities—and even a brief stint in a high school, her background in education is extensive. She has taught virtually everything related to Communication—from a fine arts speech-theatre orientation to more recently a social science research approach. Her Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees are from the University of Nebraska in Speech and her Ph.D. is from the University of Arizona in Communication. She was on the faculty at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette for thirteen years, retiring in 2007.

Her publications are extensive, with over 20 peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals, several textbooks, and a research book on her major interest area of sarcasm, published by Edwin Mellen Press. In addition to publications, she has presented numerous papers at academic conferences and served for eight years as Editor of the "Louisiana Communication Journal. " Her research focuses primarily on several areas of communication: deception, sarcasm, and vocal cues.

Dr. Rockwell is presently living in Aurora, Illinois, with her husband Milt, also a retired educator. The couple have two adult children. SOUNDS OF MURDER is her first novel.

Reviews

[Barbara Coast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patricia Rockwell writes another murder mystery that had this gal wondering who was behind the dastardly deed?! A young candidate who is making a successful bid to become the Mayor of Reardon, that is until he is discovered holding the murder weapon over his wife's dead body!

At the insistence of her best friend and colleague Joan Bentley,Pamela Barnes once again brings her acoustic expertise and her sleuthing skills to the investigation of Stacey Grant's murder. I found the usual charming cast of characters such as Arliss, Jane Marie and her other colleagues at the University to be well written in this story. Of course any review of a Pamela Barnes mystery would not be complete without mentioning her husband the charming and loveable Rocky who looks after Pamela so well including cooking wonderful meals, surprising her with the most interesting bagged lunches and even taking the time to include a variety of teas in a thermos for her each day! This man is a dream come true to any gal who doesn't have an interest in cooking but loves to eat! This gives Pamela plenty of time to work and solve murders too! I am really enjoying these stories!

The question in this particular case is will Pamela get the evidence to clear the candidate of the murder charges before it is too late or will he have to withdraw from the race? You'll have to read and find out for yourself!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, this is the fourth book in the series, and I haven't read the other three. I need to backtrack at some point. It was a fun cozy mystery and I enjoyed reading it more than I expected to. My main difficulty with the story was that the mystery could not be solved without information that was not provided until the last few pages. I know lots of mystery writers do this, but I felt a little disappointed. I'm glad I read it, and I'm willing to read more at some point.

[A.D. Hay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stamp Speech Murder was an interesting read. However, I chose to read via Kindle Whisper-sync for voice, which spoiled the big clue, making it very obvious from the second it appears on the page. But it was still a great book. I'm tempted to go back and read the previous three novels in the series.

[Marleen Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun read

Enjoyed the relationship & interactions of the main characters.
Politics can be crazy in small town USA.
Plus free recipes!

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can a professor of Acoustics from a neighboring university help a politician found standing over his wife's dead body? Well, if you are Professor Pamela Barnes of Grace University and can 'hear' something wrong within the 911 tape...

Pamela Barnes and her usual group of professors come to the aid of their choice for new Mayor of Reardon, NY. The old Mayor is corrupt and people are anxious to see him go. Just as the polls show promise, a 911 phone call is received that changes the entire election.

Pamela Barnes is a credit to her discipline of Psychology. She oversees the acoustical laboratory and often aids the police when it affects either herself, or her friends.

James Grant is a young politician with a loving wife and a good plan to help move Reardon forward. He is a political threat and the current Mayor doesn't like it a bit.

This was a good story and although I thought I knew the answer early, I was wrong. I also enjoyed getting to hear more about her fellow professors and their lives.

All in all, this was a good cozy murder mystery, now off to the polls! Don't forget to vote this year!

[Sarah Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a GoodReads First Reads Giveaways review.
This is a very cozy and predictable mystery novel. Not one I'd choose if I were looking for something complex with plenty of twists and turns. At times I felt the book veered off on tangents that drug on a little too long (descriptions of the family dog, a coworker giving birth, etc). Overall the author is no master of suspense, but has crafted an enjoyable story.

[Sherry Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from a goodreads contest. It was a good cozy mystery it even had two recipes at the end. It focused on several professors at a college with one of them an amateur detective. It was a easy read which is what you look for in a cozy mystery. I thought I had it figured out but the author had a slight twist which I did not see coming. A perfect book for a lazy Sunday afternoon of reading. I will be reading more of this authors works.

[Tess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, story held my interest, but a bit boring.

[Randall Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predictable but very entertaining!

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun read, light mystery read