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The Corpse in the Trash Room
In a college dorm in the late Seventies, seven hallmates hold a funeral for a pet hamster, only to stumble upon a body ...Startled but not exactly sorrowful at finding their unpopular dorm preceptor slumped atop a garbage can in the trash room, Keith and his friends can’t resist investigating, and set to questioning a quirky set of potential witnesses and suspects. Could the killer be a fellow student? A member of the faculty or staff? The provost? Might it even be one of their friends?Keith and his pals must navigate college politics, unruly druggies, and lesbian separatists in order to uncover the truth.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2024
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March 21, 2024Murder, mystery, and drama overshadow studying when college friends discover an unpopular dorm leader’s body slumped on a trash bin.
Slipping into sleuth mode, the seven erudite scholars are determined to ferret out the killer on campus. A 1970s backdrop provides the fun, retro spirit for this quirky collegiate romp!
Slipping into sleuth mode, the seven erudite scholars are determined to ferret out the killer on campus. A 1970s backdrop provides the fun, retro spirit for this quirky collegiate romp!
August 23, 2024
I read The Corpse in the Trash Room during a long recuperation from major surgery, looking for a not too dark or wildly complicated read (taking Percocet, after all) and one well-written and engaging, with plenty of character development, a vivid setting, and a bit of humor. Happily for me, Colleen Tajemna’s novel was the perfect choice.
It begins with a time-honored traditional frame: an older narrator is looking back at some notable or shocking events that happened in their more youthful days. In this case the first-person, reminiscent narrator is Keith, who’s about to retire from a long career as a history prof at a small American university. While cleaning out his office files, he comes across one full of typed pages relating the events of a murder that happened on campus during his student days.
The mystery actually begins with the demise of a dorm-mate’s pet hamster. Keith and some close dorm-friends decide to give Beast a lemonade-can coffin and a proper send-off but, stymied at digging a grave in the Quad with plastic forks, they reluctantly conclude a trash-chute ceremony will have to do. The Trash Room is where they discover the human corpse: their dorm preceptor, Richard Gurney, draped like old newspapers over the recycling bin. Reactions vary in a black-humor sort of way, since Gurney – awkward, annoying, and an aspiring horndog, had been much disliked by literally everyone. The narrator feels ashamed by his own lack of grief: “I reflected that if Richard Gurney had been run over by a car or stabbed by a mugger . . . we would still remember him as the sort of person who insisted on pouring people too much sherry, who persisted in making advances to gay women.”
This also means the suspect list will be long. Gurney was done in by a blow to the throat. It’s clearly murder, yet oddly the university administration puts little effort into announcing his demise, and the police seem to be moving slowly too. At last the students themselves begin an investigation in true cozy-mystery style, questioning peers and some staff, then meeting up at meals to discuss progress.
Gradually it dawns on them that they might be in danger as well.
The novel is set in the early Punk days (late 1970s to early 80s) so Gen X and up readers will be greatly entertained by the many musical and fashion references of the period. The author creates a vivid setting, and some great characters in majors ranging from theater to history to engineering, who embody all the various personalities one meets at college. The narrator’s voice is precise, at times a bit formal, almost borderline British in aspect, but this feels appropriate for the narration of an older history professor. And the action moves right along over the course of the novel’s 280+ pages. It could appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, mid-century historicals, fictional academic settings, and possibly even Dark Academia denizens looking to be diverted with a related but unsupernatural read – full-on academia, with murder, sans demons!
It begins with a time-honored traditional frame: an older narrator is looking back at some notable or shocking events that happened in their more youthful days. In this case the first-person, reminiscent narrator is Keith, who’s about to retire from a long career as a history prof at a small American university. While cleaning out his office files, he comes across one full of typed pages relating the events of a murder that happened on campus during his student days.
The mystery actually begins with the demise of a dorm-mate’s pet hamster. Keith and some close dorm-friends decide to give Beast a lemonade-can coffin and a proper send-off but, stymied at digging a grave in the Quad with plastic forks, they reluctantly conclude a trash-chute ceremony will have to do. The Trash Room is where they discover the human corpse: their dorm preceptor, Richard Gurney, draped like old newspapers over the recycling bin. Reactions vary in a black-humor sort of way, since Gurney – awkward, annoying, and an aspiring horndog, had been much disliked by literally everyone. The narrator feels ashamed by his own lack of grief: “I reflected that if Richard Gurney had been run over by a car or stabbed by a mugger . . . we would still remember him as the sort of person who insisted on pouring people too much sherry, who persisted in making advances to gay women.”
This also means the suspect list will be long. Gurney was done in by a blow to the throat. It’s clearly murder, yet oddly the university administration puts little effort into announcing his demise, and the police seem to be moving slowly too. At last the students themselves begin an investigation in true cozy-mystery style, questioning peers and some staff, then meeting up at meals to discuss progress.
Gradually it dawns on them that they might be in danger as well.
The novel is set in the early Punk days (late 1970s to early 80s) so Gen X and up readers will be greatly entertained by the many musical and fashion references of the period. The author creates a vivid setting, and some great characters in majors ranging from theater to history to engineering, who embody all the various personalities one meets at college. The narrator’s voice is precise, at times a bit formal, almost borderline British in aspect, but this feels appropriate for the narration of an older history professor. And the action moves right along over the course of the novel’s 280+ pages. It could appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, mid-century historicals, fictional academic settings, and possibly even Dark Academia denizens looking to be diverted with a related but unsupernatural read – full-on academia, with murder, sans demons!
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March 21, 2024When a story opens with a wake for a dead hamster that produces a corpse of the human variety, you suspect you’re in for a romp. And that’s what Colette Tajemna provides in this witty story that is part farce and every bit a satisfying mystery.
The story is told through the eyes of Keith, who's studying history at a small college. When a hamster belonging to another student in his dorm “pegs it,” as she puts it, she dispatches it with a memorial service. As she and her fellow students perform last rites and move to dispatch the animal, they discover a sign on the trash room saying it’s “full.”
As indeed it is, for Richard Gurney, one of the dorm’s preceptors, has taken up occupancy in the cubicle, and he has departed the college as surely as has the hamster. His presence—or lack of same—initiates a student-led investigation that moves through a parade of suspects, each with his or her own motive. Or lack of one, in some cases.
The college is less than transparent about the death. The local newspaper is clueless. A student reporter for the campus newspaper tries to get the witnesses to inject drama into their quotes.
The narrator recounts all this with a worldly dispassion that rings true for a person of this age. Set against the backdrop of sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the mid-eighties, the book walks the narrow line between tragedy and burlesque. The writer has an ear for how young people spoke during this decade. She conceals moments of humor in the tale’s darkest moments, making one smile through what is a serious investigation.
Through it all, she drops breadcrumbs that, as she reveals the solution, cause the reader to lie and say, “Of course. I knew that.”
As a mystery writer, I appreciated the craft she brings to the genre, and marvel at her gift for humor. My only regret in recommending this book is that it’s a one-off. One wants more of Keith and his gang of irreverent investigators.
The story is told through the eyes of Keith, who's studying history at a small college. When a hamster belonging to another student in his dorm “pegs it,” as she puts it, she dispatches it with a memorial service. As she and her fellow students perform last rites and move to dispatch the animal, they discover a sign on the trash room saying it’s “full.”
As indeed it is, for Richard Gurney, one of the dorm’s preceptors, has taken up occupancy in the cubicle, and he has departed the college as surely as has the hamster. His presence—or lack of same—initiates a student-led investigation that moves through a parade of suspects, each with his or her own motive. Or lack of one, in some cases.
The college is less than transparent about the death. The local newspaper is clueless. A student reporter for the campus newspaper tries to get the witnesses to inject drama into their quotes.
The narrator recounts all this with a worldly dispassion that rings true for a person of this age. Set against the backdrop of sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the mid-eighties, the book walks the narrow line between tragedy and burlesque. The writer has an ear for how young people spoke during this decade. She conceals moments of humor in the tale’s darkest moments, making one smile through what is a serious investigation.
Through it all, she drops breadcrumbs that, as she reveals the solution, cause the reader to lie and say, “Of course. I knew that.”
As a mystery writer, I appreciated the craft she brings to the genre, and marvel at her gift for humor. My only regret in recommending this book is that it’s a one-off. One wants more of Keith and his gang of irreverent investigators.
April 19, 2024
This witty mystery novel is written in the delightfully sardonic voice of a college history major and begins with the death in the dormitory of a hamster named Beast. After Keith and his friends conduct an inebriated wake for their little friend, they are prevented from disposing of the animal’s body by the unexpected presence of a corpse found slumped over a can of recycled glass in the trash room. It is the body of an unpopular dorm preceptor who we soon learn was murdered..
The students conduct their own eccentric version of an “investigation,” developing one absurd theory after another as they question potential suspects. Set in the 1970’s (the dorm Hall has luminous stars painted on the ceiling) the satirical prose raises it several notches above the usual “cosy” mystery and I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
The students conduct their own eccentric version of an “investigation,” developing one absurd theory after another as they question potential suspects. Set in the 1970’s (the dorm Hall has luminous stars painted on the ceiling) the satirical prose raises it several notches above the usual “cosy” mystery and I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
November 13, 2024
YA cosy crime set in University halls of residence.
The story line is intensely focussed through the eyes of a senior student who is one of the group who found the corpse. The ennui and concerns of student life are conveyed in the telling including: study and sex; drink and drugs; gossip and grift; philosophy and politics and music with musings.
There is a host of motives and suspects so our amateur starts with opportunity and makes some unwarranted assumptions. There are twists and unexpected opposition as well as the MacGuffin. LGBTQ+ issues arise and are germane to the plot and some of the tension. I felt the tension and pace was lacking with a rather drawn out climax being a small exception. I had included the perpetrator(s) in my suspect shortlist and there are fair clues through the text, but other possibilities are not completely eliminated.
I was struck by some phrases like " a veritable palimpsest of prints", and "Sex is politics." the latter being said by a radical lesbian.
I received a free advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The story line is intensely focussed through the eyes of a senior student who is one of the group who found the corpse. The ennui and concerns of student life are conveyed in the telling including: study and sex; drink and drugs; gossip and grift; philosophy and politics and music with musings.
There is a host of motives and suspects so our amateur starts with opportunity and makes some unwarranted assumptions. There are twists and unexpected opposition as well as the MacGuffin. LGBTQ+ issues arise and are germane to the plot and some of the tension. I felt the tension and pace was lacking with a rather drawn out climax being a small exception. I had included the perpetrator(s) in my suspect shortlist and there are fair clues through the text, but other possibilities are not completely eliminated.
I was struck by some phrases like " a veritable palimpsest of prints", and "Sex is politics." the latter being said by a radical lesbian.
I received a free advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 15, 2025
The Corpse in the Trash Room is a quirky cozy mystery that follows a group of college students who stumble upon the body of their creepy dorm preceptor, found slumped over a trash can—right as they're attempting a makeshift burial for a friend’s hamster.
Keith narrates the story as he and his friends navigate campus, questioning potential suspects—all while juggling the chaos of college life.
The setting feels rooted in the late '70s or early '80s, thanks to several nostalgic Easter eggs sprinkled throughout. I'd recommend this book to an older audience who'll likely appreciate and connect with the throwback references.
I also want to add that Keith’s narration and the writing style reminded me a lot of Sheldon from Young Sheldon. I found myself reading the entire book in Sheldon’s voice, which made the experience even more entertaining and fun.
Overall a good interesting read!!
Thank you Netgalley & Victory Editing for the Arc! 💖
Keith narrates the story as he and his friends navigate campus, questioning potential suspects—all while juggling the chaos of college life.
The setting feels rooted in the late '70s or early '80s, thanks to several nostalgic Easter eggs sprinkled throughout. I'd recommend this book to an older audience who'll likely appreciate and connect with the throwback references.
I also want to add that Keith’s narration and the writing style reminded me a lot of Sheldon from Young Sheldon. I found myself reading the entire book in Sheldon’s voice, which made the experience even more entertaining and fun.
Overall a good interesting read!!
Thank you Netgalley & Victory Editing for the Arc! 💖
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April 9, 2024This clever mystery follows a group of college students turned amateur sleuths as they investigate the murder of a universally unpopular dorm preceptor. The story centers on four students, led by history-major Keith, who exchange witty banter while evaluating the pool of suspects on campus and methodically analyzing clues. All of this is set against a backdrop of cultural references to 1970s and 80s, which brings the setting to life. If you’re a fan of wry humor and smart, logical mysteries, you’ll be sure to enjoy this one!
April 10, 2024
Carolyn’s Hamster ,Beast was dead in it’s Habitrail. Keith, Holly, Carolyn, Tricia, , Pauline, Evan and Malcolm wanted to bury it in the trash chute but come across the body of Richard Gurney the dorm Preceptor. They call the campus police. They also decide to investigate the case on their own. A exciting read with interesting characters and humour . I received this ARC copy via booksirans and leave a honest review. I recommend this book to other readers.
May 16, 2024
This book is being described as a comedy, but I felt it as a tragedy. Although it is written in a lighthearted tone, the novel holds deep emotional currents. Underneath the "romp," there are underground rivers of anger, passion, and cries for justice. The reader may be consoled that the crime occurred in a previous decade and such a crime could not happen in 2024. But this reader was not consoled.
December 16, 2024
Understated humor as a group of college students play at investigating a murder, finally bumbling their way into identifying the perpetrator. Sadly, I felt more sympathy for the murderer than the victim, who was a total sleaze, a sexual predator abusing his position to practice coercion and even blackmail. It was interesting watching the students ferret out the details.
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December 14, 2024This little mystery is actually the first novel I ever wrote, now finding its way to print and e-book many years later under the pen name Colette Tajemna. I'm thrilled that it is already pleasing some experienced mystery authors, and I hope that many other readers will also enjoy it. The e-book is available from many online retailers, and the paperback edition is also available from most of them, as well as direct from www.archelaus-cards.com.
April 14, 2024
In this mystery set in a pre-COVID era, the discovery of an unloved college employee propped dead on a trash can triggers an investigation by students who encounter the body when they gather in their residence hall's trash room for a pet hamster's funeral. In the course of their amateur sleuthing, the foibles of campus administrators and students seeking justice are pilloried, often hilariously. This is no cozy mystery, but rather a dormitory one (a "dormey" perhaps?) which both affectionately recalls and ridicules a bygone time in academia!
April 17, 2024
I am an ARC reader and this is my honest opinion. I read the description and the blurb and expected this book to be as promised - an amusing story of students in the 70s investigating after finding a body. In fact I had trouble getting into the book. I didn't find it amusing at all. It reminded me very much of my friends and I in High school between the ages of 14-15 - we never found a body but we're good at conspiracy theories. In the university Hall of Residence - .on either side of an area with the trash chute - One of the girls finds her pet hamster dead and is so upset, and her fellow students sympathise enough that they decide to hold a wake for him. Not knowing what else to do with the creature's body, they process with it to the trash chute. There's a notice on the door saying Out of Order that they simply remove and open the door - and find a body. From there on in the book consists of this group of students, each with their different interests and course work, continually speculating, arguing and "interviewing" their suspects. I found the book hard the read to the end.
July 8, 2024
When a universally disliked dorm preceptor is murdered, a group of college students becomes amateur sleuths in Tejemna’s ingenious mystery. History-major Keith and his college dormmates stumble upon a dead body while holding a funeral for a pet hamster. Amidst the chaos of unruly students and controversial ideologies, the group set out to uncover the killer’s identity, questioning fellow classmates, faculty, and even their own allies. As they navigate through college politics and personal relationships, the truth slowly reveals itself.
The novel’s plot is well-crafted, keeping readers guessing until the very end, while the characters are vibrant and multi-dimensional, adding depth and complexity to the story. Tajemna’s writing style is reminiscent of classic mystery authors like Agatha Christie, with a touch of Jane Austen’s wit and charm.
As the story unfolds, subtle hints are sprinkled throughout, leaving readers with an “aha!” moment when the truth is finally revealed. Witty prose, plenty of suspects, and subtle social commentary make for a winning combination.
The novel’s plot is well-crafted, keeping readers guessing until the very end, while the characters are vibrant and multi-dimensional, adding depth and complexity to the story. Tajemna’s writing style is reminiscent of classic mystery authors like Agatha Christie, with a touch of Jane Austen’s wit and charm.
As the story unfolds, subtle hints are sprinkled throughout, leaving readers with an “aha!” moment when the truth is finally revealed. Witty prose, plenty of suspects, and subtle social commentary make for a winning combination.
June 18, 2024
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This was . . . not it for me. This as advertised as a murder mystery comedy. I kept waiting for the comedy, but the only remotely funny part happens within the first few pages of the book. From then on out it was a lot of pretentiousness centered around a mystery that wasn't really interesting. The "big reveal" at the end was anti climactic and there's zero explanation in how the narrator even came to the conclusion of who the murderer was. The wide cast of characters that all bleed together, none of them having enough individual traits or personalities to make them stand out. Also, none of them had any normal reactions to any situation. It was very weird.
The reason this got 2 stars is that I can't say it was poorly written. The story slows well. It was just really pretentious and pompous for what was supposed to be a murder mystery/comedy.
This was . . . not it for me. This as advertised as a murder mystery comedy. I kept waiting for the comedy, but the only remotely funny part happens within the first few pages of the book. From then on out it was a lot of pretentiousness centered around a mystery that wasn't really interesting. The "big reveal" at the end was anti climactic and there's zero explanation in how the narrator even came to the conclusion of who the murderer was. The wide cast of characters that all bleed together, none of them having enough individual traits or personalities to make them stand out. Also, none of them had any normal reactions to any situation. It was very weird.
The reason this got 2 stars is that I can't say it was poorly written. The story slows well. It was just really pretentious and pompous for what was supposed to be a murder mystery/comedy.
June 2, 2024
This book was hard to get into. I was ready to DNF after chapter 2. The author's writing style was off putting and stilted: the words didn't flow. The pacing was slow, the mystery and all the characters were boring and I felt my eyelids droop on occasion causing me frustration because I had to re-read a number of pages when I just wanted to quickly finish the book and be done with it already.
This isn't a cozy mystery. Rather it's a snarky version of Scooby Doo geared towards the young adult market. The characters (more than 20) all melded into one with no distinguishing characteristics amongst them. They all acted and sounded alike! But I pressed on because it's like watching a bad movie. No matter how bad, you stick around because you want to know how it ends.
Well, I stuck around, finally finished it and ... meh.
This isn't a cozy mystery. Rather it's a snarky version of Scooby Doo geared towards the young adult market. The characters (more than 20) all melded into one with no distinguishing characteristics amongst them. They all acted and sounded alike! But I pressed on because it's like watching a bad movie. No matter how bad, you stick around because you want to know how it ends.
Well, I stuck around, finally finished it and ... meh.
July 16, 2024
A murder mystery that theatre nerds, music lovers, and literature nerds will love as the students are at a liberal arts college so their course work, quotes, discussions and comparisons are full of names and titles of classics. The book has a core group of people but there are a lot of tangential characters named and side discussions that muddled the mystery for me. I would have loved for the ending to circle back to the beginning character, not that it would have changed the solution or plot but it would have been nice to hear that character's thoughts once the full story has unfolded.
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own and I leave them voluntarily.
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own and I leave them voluntarily.
July 28, 2024
This reminded me of a slightly tamed version of the movie 'Animal House '. It was so off the wall and way out there. The characters are eclectic, unique, and engaging. The storyline is humorous despite the murder of an unliked person. The local police don't seem to be active enough to satisfy the students, so they take up the task and begin their own investigations . The interrogations were interesting and at times informative. Under pressure, the killer turns themselves in. It ends without a conclusion or trial. Whether justified or not, I believe it's the right thing to do otherwise chaos rules. I voluntarily read a free copy of this book provided by book sirens and am giving an honest opinion.
May 18, 2024
Tons of tongue check humor in The Corpse in the Trash Room! When students of a college dorm hall discover the dead body of a dorky fellow student, they set out to solve the mystery as if it were a math puzzle. The mystery is legit, but what really delighted me was how the author captured the mentality of college students who confuse academic achievement for wisdom. As the story follows the sincere clique of students who live in the same hall, the reader begins to see the intertwining of subcliques and friendships of the highly individuated characters. It’s an engaging, light read. Perfect for summer.
July 6, 2024
We follow a group of college kids who discover a dead body in their dorm and work to solve the case. Their progress is terribly slow as they are poor detectives and spend most of their time studying, going to class or chatting in the cafeteria. Despite their lack of progress, I found myself interested in the story, which is an easy read, though I tripped over the sentences a few times. The book seems more about the characters than crime-solving. Unfortunately, the ending was somewhat flat and disappointing.
I won a free copy of this book (thanks to the author & publisher!) and am voluntarily providing an honest review.
I won a free copy of this book (thanks to the author & publisher!) and am voluntarily providing an honest review.
March 28, 2024
When a group of brilliant and almost impossibly erudite group of college students discover a dead body in their dormitory, their inner sleuths are released as they somewhat cluelessly pursue clues that might reveal the murderer. Funny, and at times nostalgic, author Colette Tajemna balances the sociological examination of a generation and a time with a good, old-fashioned mystery worthy of Agatha Christie—suspect after suspect pinpointed and then cast aside as the wisecracking students barrel toward a satisfying denouement. (Book received from author as advance copy.)
May 10, 2024
A Hamster with the ironic moniker of beast, students holding an investigation into it's mysterious demise and all based in college halls in the 70s. "There is a time and a place for everything - and it's called college" my family used to say and I think everything may have missed out on this particular escapade as I really wish I had been part of this misadventure!
I was cackling out loud throughout and found the wit and pace to be utterly delightful. Brilliant!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I was cackling out loud throughout and found the wit and pace to be utterly delightful. Brilliant!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 17, 2024
Entertaining. Not compelling. Not gripping. If you don't want to be in the head of a university student, go another direction. Just enough foreshadowing to keep the ending from being a complete surprise but not so much as to give it away in the first half. The writing is great. I love finding new words that I'm compelled to look up. The characters are highly believable.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
March 10, 2025
This book was tough to get through. I think it was the verbose way the author described things, situations, feelings. Like it was trying to be WAY too high-brow.
To be fair, maybe that’s the author’s style, but it’s not my taste in murder mysteries.
The revelation and reveal was underwhelming also. While it was set up that multiple people could’ve done it, the killer wasn’t that earth-shattering as the person was obviously affected the whole story.
To be fair, maybe that’s the author’s style, but it’s not my taste in murder mysteries.
The revelation and reveal was underwhelming also. While it was set up that multiple people could’ve done it, the killer wasn’t that earth-shattering as the person was obviously affected the whole story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2025
A fun and quirky read in which a group of 70s college students solve a murder on campus. The narrator's dry wit and the seventies vibe are wonderfully conveyed, sort of Agatha Christie meets Saturday Night Live. This crew sets out to find the culprit among them, all while drinking, flirting, and arguing the politics of the time. (And the music references are fun!)
December 2, 2024
A light murder mystery, a fun quirky narrator voice, lots of talking heads, a throw-back to college dorms in the ‘70s, a satisfying wrap-up. I enjoyed the story once it got moving.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews