What do you think?
Rate this book
A Murder of Prose
396 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2025
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 27, 2025
I enjoyed reading every single page of this book. I hope Scott writes another murder mystery. This book caught my attention right from the beginning. I didn’t have a clue as to who the Crow Killer was until the very end, and it really surprised me. I certainly look forward to reading more books from this author.
October 15, 2025
Scott Charlton Paul’s A Murder of Prose is a crime novel with literary aspirations—a murder mystery set not in the seedy underbelly of a city, but in its libraries, classrooms, and creative-writing circles. The result is an unusual hybrid: part procedural, part meditation on language, ego, and the blurred line between fiction and confession.
The story follows Samuel Rigondeaux, a precise, solitary reference librarian in Lethbridge, Alberta, whose quiet life is upended when members of his writing group begin dying in grotesquely symbolic ways. Teaming up with Flagstaff, a former RCMP officer turned homeless wanderer, Samuel becomes an unlikely sleuth, drawn into a web of rivalries, plagiarism, and buried guilt. The murders themselves are theatrical—staged with literary clues that feel ripped from the victims’ own manuscripts—and Paul uses that conceit to explore the darker side of artistic ambition.
Paul’s prose is crisp and observational. He writes about libraries and classrooms with affection and authority, giving the book an authenticity rare in genre fiction. The sense of place—Lethbridge’s coulees, prairie winds, and late-autumn skies—is rendered with quiet precision. You can feel the chill of the stacks, the hum of fluorescent light, the loneliness of people who read to escape themselves.
What keeps A Murder of Prose from ascending to greatness is its uneven rhythm. The novel toggles between procedural tension and philosophical rumination, and while both are interesting, the transitions can feel abrupt. Some scenes of investigation are taut and engaging; others sag under the weight of self-conscious reflection. Samuel, though likeable, remains emotionally opaque—his inner life more narrated than felt.
Still, Paul’s ambition deserves credit. He’s less interested in the spectacle of murder than in the psychology of those drawn to stories, and to the lies they tell about themselves. The recurring imagery of crows, feathers, and manuscripts lends the book a mythic undertone, as though the city itself is watching, keeping score.
The climax ties its threads with efficiency if not surprise. Yet even as the killer is unmasked, what lingers is the novel’s quiet melancholy—a sense that writing, like crime, leaves stains that can’t quite be scrubbed clean.
My Humble Opinion: A Murder of Prose is a thoughtful, slightly uneven debut that values introspection over adrenaline. Scott Charlton Paul has written a mystery for readers who love books about books—where the sharpest weapons are words themselves.
The story follows Samuel Rigondeaux, a precise, solitary reference librarian in Lethbridge, Alberta, whose quiet life is upended when members of his writing group begin dying in grotesquely symbolic ways. Teaming up with Flagstaff, a former RCMP officer turned homeless wanderer, Samuel becomes an unlikely sleuth, drawn into a web of rivalries, plagiarism, and buried guilt. The murders themselves are theatrical—staged with literary clues that feel ripped from the victims’ own manuscripts—and Paul uses that conceit to explore the darker side of artistic ambition.
Paul’s prose is crisp and observational. He writes about libraries and classrooms with affection and authority, giving the book an authenticity rare in genre fiction. The sense of place—Lethbridge’s coulees, prairie winds, and late-autumn skies—is rendered with quiet precision. You can feel the chill of the stacks, the hum of fluorescent light, the loneliness of people who read to escape themselves.
What keeps A Murder of Prose from ascending to greatness is its uneven rhythm. The novel toggles between procedural tension and philosophical rumination, and while both are interesting, the transitions can feel abrupt. Some scenes of investigation are taut and engaging; others sag under the weight of self-conscious reflection. Samuel, though likeable, remains emotionally opaque—his inner life more narrated than felt.
Still, Paul’s ambition deserves credit. He’s less interested in the spectacle of murder than in the psychology of those drawn to stories, and to the lies they tell about themselves. The recurring imagery of crows, feathers, and manuscripts lends the book a mythic undertone, as though the city itself is watching, keeping score.
The climax ties its threads with efficiency if not surprise. Yet even as the killer is unmasked, what lingers is the novel’s quiet melancholy—a sense that writing, like crime, leaves stains that can’t quite be scrubbed clean.
My Humble Opinion: A Murder of Prose is a thoughtful, slightly uneven debut that values introspection over adrenaline. Scott Charlton Paul has written a mystery for readers who love books about books—where the sharpest weapons are words themselves.
November 10, 2025
A Murder of Prose was such a fun read! The cast of characters was diverse and I found myself really rooting for some of them. I really enjoyed reading about the different characters traits and how their relationships developed. I'm a big fan of murder mysteries and this one didn't disappoint. Scott had me guessing until the very end! I could not put this book down as I needed to know who The Crow Killer was. Definitely didn't see that ending coming! I really hope that there is a future for "Two Crows Investigations" and there is another case in Samuel and Flagstaff's future.
This is the second Scott Charlton Paul book I have read. They are both well researched and written. I would recommend if you enjoyed a Murder of Prose to pick up his earlier work "The Sunbeam Room."
This is the second Scott Charlton Paul book I have read. They are both well researched and written. I would recommend if you enjoyed a Murder of Prose to pick up his earlier work "The Sunbeam Room."
October 21, 2025
I really enjoyed A Murder of Prose by Scott Charlton Paul. The characters are engaging and fully formed, and their relationships are well developed. Getting to the reveal was a clever, twisty ride that kept me guessing. The author writes with specific details of Lethbridge, a beautiful, windy, southern Alberta city with a darker underbelly than meets the eye, and a great setting for this cozy, Canadian mystery novel. Looking forward to the next chapter of the Two Crows mystery series.
November 6, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Initially I purchased it because I love a good mystery and live in Lethbridge. I was entirely swept away(or is it blown by the wind) by the story.
Well written characters, intriguing storyline and an ending I didn't see coming.
I hope the author makes a series.
Well written characters, intriguing storyline and an ending I didn't see coming.
I hope the author makes a series.
October 26, 2025
A highly original premise with fascinating characters and snappy dialogue. I guessed wrong, which is the mark of a good mystery. You will enjoy this book if you are a mystery/thriller fan.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews