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Mcleod Dulaney #5
The Princeton Impostor by Ann Waldron
Professor McLeod Dulany's unassuming star student, Greg Pierre, actually is assuming-a false name, that is. When the student who outed him is found murdered, suspicion falls on Pierre. But McLeod believes in Pierre's innocence, and now must trace the clues left behind to find a killer's true identity.
- GenresMystery
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 2, 2007
3 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Ann Waldron
22 books18 followersAnn Waldron was born in Birmingham, Alabama and grew up on Cotton Avenue in West End. She went to Hemphill Grammar School and West End High School. She and her parents and older sister lived three blocks from the Vine Street Presbyterian Church, which they attended twice every Sunday and on Wednesday nights for prayer meeting. They spent summers on an 80-acre farm her parents owned in St. Clair County, near Cook Springs.
Ann was co-editor of her high school newspaper (the principal decreed that, although she was able enough, she was too much of a discipline problem to be the editor in chief). She did become editor of the Crimson-White, the student newspaper at the University of Alabama, from which she graduated in 1945. She attended Hudson Strode's creative writing class at the university and appeared in Blackfriars plays.
Her first job was with the Atlanta Constitution, where she was a reporter for two and a half years. It was there that she met her husband, Martin Waldron, who was then a student at Georgia Tech and who happened to see an advertisement for a copy boy's job on a bulletin board at Tech. He applied, got the job, and never looked back. He realized that he was destined to be a newspaper reporter, not an engineer, and he dropped out of Tech.
Martin later finished college at Birmingham-Southern while he worked for the Birmingham Post-Herald. Ann worked on The Progressive Farmer magazine. When Martin was hired by the Tampa Tribune the Waldrons, with their two children, Peter and Lolly, moved to Florida, where Martin first covered the citrus industry in Lakeland, and then the state capitol in Tallahassee.
The women's editor of the Tribune, knowing of Ann's journalistic experience, asked her to write a weekly feature on women in state government. By now there were two more children--Thomas William and Boojie (real name Martin Oliver Waldron III)--but she managed the one-day-a-week job happily. In fact, when she was in the hospital once, Martin wrote her column for her.
In 1960, the St. Petersburg Times hired both of them, but let them stay in Tallahassee. Martin led the team that did the series of stories exposing corruption in the management of the Florida Turnpike Authority that won the Times a Pulitzer Prize for Community Service.
Ann's column was still appearing in both the Times and the Miami Herald in 1965 when the New York Times hired Martin to open a bureau in Houston, Texas. The Waldrons moved to Houston, where Ann became book editor of the Houston Chronicle, and began writing children's books.
In 1975, the Times transferred Martin to New York and the Waldrons settled in Princeton. "We looked at suburbs on Long Island, Westchester County, Monclair, Red Bank, and Princeton, and we loved Princeton," Ann said. She took classes at Princeton University and went to work there as the associate editor of a quarterly magazine, University. She continued to write children's books, published six novels for young people, and wrote a book about art forgeries.
In 1981, Martin died, and Ann went to work fulltime for Princeton as the editor of its Campaign Bulletin. Children's books no longer held the same fascination for her--she wanted to do something different, and settled on a biography of Caroline Gordon. Biography seemed to be the ideal kind of book for her, since she could use research skills learne din journalism and bring people to life using some of the techniques of fiction I had learned. "Princeton University was an immensely helpful employer," she said. "My boss gave me every Wednesday afternoon off so I could do research in the library where Caroline Gordon's papers were held. Often in my travels for the Campaign Bulletin, I could do an interview for the biography as well."
http://www.annwaldron.com/bio.htm
Ann was co-editor of her high school newspaper (the principal decreed that, although she was able enough, she was too much of a discipline problem to be the editor in chief). She did become editor of the Crimson-White, the student newspaper at the University of Alabama, from which she graduated in 1945. She attended Hudson Strode's creative writing class at the university and appeared in Blackfriars plays.
Her first job was with the Atlanta Constitution, where she was a reporter for two and a half years. It was there that she met her husband, Martin Waldron, who was then a student at Georgia Tech and who happened to see an advertisement for a copy boy's job on a bulletin board at Tech. He applied, got the job, and never looked back. He realized that he was destined to be a newspaper reporter, not an engineer, and he dropped out of Tech.
Martin later finished college at Birmingham-Southern while he worked for the Birmingham Post-Herald. Ann worked on The Progressive Farmer magazine. When Martin was hired by the Tampa Tribune the Waldrons, with their two children, Peter and Lolly, moved to Florida, where Martin first covered the citrus industry in Lakeland, and then the state capitol in Tallahassee.
The women's editor of the Tribune, knowing of Ann's journalistic experience, asked her to write a weekly feature on women in state government. By now there were two more children--Thomas William and Boojie (real name Martin Oliver Waldron III)--but she managed the one-day-a-week job happily. In fact, when she was in the hospital once, Martin wrote her column for her.
In 1960, the St. Petersburg Times hired both of them, but let them stay in Tallahassee. Martin led the team that did the series of stories exposing corruption in the management of the Florida Turnpike Authority that won the Times a Pulitzer Prize for Community Service.
Ann's column was still appearing in both the Times and the Miami Herald in 1965 when the New York Times hired Martin to open a bureau in Houston, Texas. The Waldrons moved to Houston, where Ann became book editor of the Houston Chronicle, and began writing children's books.
In 1975, the Times transferred Martin to New York and the Waldrons settled in Princeton. "We looked at suburbs on Long Island, Westchester County, Monclair, Red Bank, and Princeton, and we loved Princeton," Ann said. She took classes at Princeton University and went to work there as the associate editor of a quarterly magazine, University. She continued to write children's books, published six novels for young people, and wrote a book about art forgeries.
In 1981, Martin died, and Ann went to work fulltime for Princeton as the editor of its Campaign Bulletin. Children's books no longer held the same fascination for her--she wanted to do something different, and settled on a biography of Caroline Gordon. Biography seemed to be the ideal kind of book for her, since she could use research skills learne din journalism and bring people to life using some of the techniques of fiction I had learned. "Princeton University was an immensely helpful employer," she said. "My boss gave me every Wednesday afternoon off so I could do research in the library where Caroline Gordon's papers were held. Often in my travels for the Campaign Bulletin, I could do an interview for the biography as well."
http://www.annwaldron.com/bio.htm
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 23, 2018
This book felt very strange to me. The dialogue was stilted and there was a lot of repetition of information from scene to scene that made the mystery feel as though it were being solved very slowly. I liked the university atmosphere and the reference to the Cotsen Children's Library, which I have visited, but McLeod was not an especially likable main character and I never really bought her reasoning for getting involved in clearing her student of murder in the first place. It also annoyed me that she kept commenting on how little she understood about science. Surely someone who teaches at Princeton and who specifically teaches students to write nonfiction, would have some ability to read and understand new scientific concepts. In any case, this was a random selection from a book sale, and I'll be donating my copy in the hopes that someone else will give it a more loving home. It was not my cup of tea and I feel no need to look for the earlier books of the series.
March 29, 2009
Bad. Like for serious bad. And I've read all the others; It's now clear why this was the last one. Was Waldron under contract so just churned out a mess and said here? The plot is bad; the characters are inconsistent from their past; and the main characterin a mystery should never be both absent from and surprised by the murderer when he/ she is revealed. Bad form. Oh, and it's full of copyediting mistakes too, which added to my severe disappointment.
It was a guilty pleasure brainvacation anyway; maybe i shouldn't be so hard on it.
Nevermind, yes, I should.
It was a guilty pleasure brainvacation anyway; maybe i shouldn't be so hard on it.
Nevermind, yes, I should.
June 21, 2015
While I have been looking for more professor-sleuths, this was not the answer to my quest. The story is very disconnected, and written oddly - characters repeat things often, sometimes within two lines, and there's no buildup of tension. Things just happen, and they aren't particularly believable. Then, to top it off, the main character doesn't actually solve the mystery. It was just a strange book, and not in a good way.
May 4, 2020
This is my first read of an Ann Waldron mystery. So, I see I am starting with book 5! I enjoyed the main characters but would love to know more about them. The crazy way McLeod goes about figuring out the mystery is half the fun, with the food tie-in and personal stuff rounding the story out. I look forward to finding the other 4 books and reading them, too!
September 15, 2016
Professor McLeod Dulaney was upset when the police came into her writing seminar and arrested her best pupil for the murder. When it turned out that he was using a false name, had forged documents to get into Prinston, and had an arrest record in Wyoming, things didn’t look good for Greg/Bob. Dulaney was sure he was innocent, and decided to help the police find the real killer. Since the murdered student was a graduate researcher in the science department, Dulaney found herself learning a lot about a very different part of the campus from her English department. --- An interesting story about likeable people … One of whom might actually be a murderer.
May 12, 2015
McLeod Dulaney is teaching her writing class at Princeton when two police come in and arrest her best student. McLeod goes to bat for her student, and suddenly, the women who had owned the drugs he was convicted for saw religion and confessed. However, soon a chemistry grad student is found dead (he was the one who who recognized the first student and turned him in. McLeod continues to investigate the murders. The story isn't bad, but the way it is told seems sort of matter of fact and unexciting.
June 25, 2013
A simple, silly book. The plot isn't particularly gripping or anything, but it's fun to read because it references places and things that are familiar from my time at Princeton. Also, apparently one of my friends there was involved in helping the author, since he got a big shout out in her acknowledgements... who knew?! :)
Read
September 2, 2016Professor McLeod Dulany's unassuming star student, Greg Pierre, actually is assuming-a false name, that is. When the student who outed him is found murdered, suspicion falls on Pierre. But McLeod believes in Pierre's innocence, and now must trace the clues left behind to find a killer's true identity.
Very enjoyable.
Book
Very enjoyable.
Book
April 12, 2015
As with most stories in this genre, it's a bit unbelievable that the police would divulge so much information about a criminal investigation to a civilian, but it's a quick and fun diversion. This is the only book I've read in the series, but I enjoyed it.
Read
December 2, 2009fun series
Read
July 28, 2011yawn
August 18, 2014
Another "Princeton" mystery with McLeod DeLaney. A quick and enjoyable read.
July 16, 2015
"...he's a minority student and I feel like he's not as tough as some of us." What the heck does that mean, Waldron?
July 25, 2016
This is really good.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews