Academic Murder

by Dorsey Fiske

The life of scholarly contemplation enjoyed by the Fellows of Sheepshanks College, Cambridge, is shattered when the Pryevian Librarian collapses and dies at High Table owing to a slug of arsenic in his port, and the recently discovered holograph copy of Shakespeares earliest poem, Cupid and Psyche, is found to be missing from the college library. John Saltmarsh, a Sheepshanks Fellow and closet writer of detective novels, sets out to solve these conundrums. The waters are further muddied by a rapist who stalks the streets of Cambridge in an academic gown.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Ms. Fiske is a graduate of Radcliffe College, who has studied in the other Cambridge, where she sets her mystery series.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cambridge University's Sheepshanks College is shocked when an unpopular librarian is poisoned at after-dinner port. The local Inspector Bunce feels inadequate, but not as inadequate as his Scotland Yard counterpart proves to be. At the same time, a rapist is attacking women throughout Cambridge. Ordinarily, I would give a book like this--well-written, well-plotted, full of quirky and interesting characters--a four star rating, but it loses a star because of some prejudicial attitudes, not all excusable by its 1980 publication date.

[Kira Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing read, set in a fictitious college of Cambridge, Sheepshanks (formerly Agnus Dei, and for some reason the ovine references do not stop there). I sought out this book because I wanted to read a murder mystery featuring academic librarians as either the victim or a suspect (and in this case there were some of each).

Published in 1980, this book is very dated in its portrayal of gay characters and would probably not get published today. I found it offensive myself, but I am willing to give the author's more recent writings a try.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star. My first 1 star I believe. This 1980 book is so outdated that much of it was outdated in 1980! The casual misogyny, classism, homophobia, and other offensive attitudes are just impossible to get past. And the mystery simply isn't very good. The writer is literate in the English language and that's about the nicest thing I can say.