Overnight Float: A Mystery

by Elizabeth Kennan, Jill Ker Conway

When Rosemary Stubbs embarks on her new career as a chaplain at a New England women's college, she quickly finds herself ensnared in a mystery. She found herself on a circular stair that led down into a great sunken theater, the stair opening onto a concrete catwalk around four huge cylinders that rested on a level four feet below. The heat was intense, and a living, roaring noise surrounded her. ―From Overnight Float

Genres: Mystery, Adult

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My sister gave me this for my birthday and I read almost overnight. Written jointly by former MHC and Smith College presidents it was fun to imagine the story taking place in South Hadley...if a little creepy. Good characters, interesting angles. Not Dorothy Sayers or even Dick Francis yet, but I hope they keep it up. A fun read.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little mystery in a fun setting. I also love how it is written by two former female college presidents.

[Elizabeth Alton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mystery. Based in my state Vermont!

[Julia Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. I love everything Jill Ker Conway writes -- this was a mystery under the above listed pen name.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two and a half years after giving up her successful career in the corporate world for a divinity school degree, Rosemary Stubbs arrives on the campus of Sanderson College - a women's college in New England - to take up the post as chaplain. Still devastated by her husband Jim's tragic drowning, Rosemary hopes that she can find some solace in a new vocation, helping the students to resolve their own fears and confront some tough choices. She had absolutely no idea that such a bucolic campus as Sanderson College could possibly hide such intrigue and mystery.

When a member of the faculty dies unexpectedly, soon after Rosemary's arrival, she quickly learns that life in a small liberal arts college is not quite the sanctuary she thought it would be. Indeed, it seems as if Rosemary is caught in the middle of something nefarious; a stunning, seemingly elemental version of good versus evil. As tensions over the faculty member's death continue to mount, secret allegiances and hidden conflicts come to light.

Rosemary, with the help of a meticulous homicide detective named Raphael Ramirez, finds herself matching wits with a cold-blooded murderer. It will take all of her considerable intelligence and intellect to add up the clues and to avoid getting caught in the clutches of an elusive campus killer. Will she be savvy enough to solve this mystery, before her time runs out?

This is the debut mystery of co-authors Jill Ker Conway and Elizabeth T. Kennan. Both ladies are former college presidents who have written several non-fiction books between them. I must say, that despite the story being so intricately detailed in certain areas, I still enjoyed it very much. I also appreciated that the mystery took place in a collegiate setting. I give this book an A!

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book for years but it never seemed that interesting but now that I've worked in the financial industry, suddenly the idea of Overnight Float fascinating. Rosemary Stubbs was a CFO for a major corporation but when her husband died she decided to go back to school and pursued a Masters of Divinity at Yale. Upon graduation she was invited to apply for the position of Chaplain at Sanderson in upper New England. Her first day is marred when her only friend at the college is found murdered. I liked Rosemary. She was no-nonsense and realistically spiritual. I liked how she related to the students and vice versa. I also found the expose, so to speak, of acadaemia very interesting.

[Julie Golding Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, starring Episcopal (Anglican) College Chaplain Rosemary Stubbs, offers a complicated mystery with a multitude of believable and complex characters.

In fact, I was often confused about the characters because there were so many. However, if this book were the first in a series, the many potential "repeat" characters would add richness rather than bringing confusion to the reader.

Unfortunately, I don't think the series ever came to be - if it ever does, though, I will be looking for it. This is a very promising first book.

[Pmalcpoet Pat Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last time I read a mystery set in a traditional women's college was when I read Gaudy Night (Dorothy L. Sayers) as an undergraduate. I enjoyed this entertaining read, and it's a shame it appears to be a one-off by its talented writers, who should know a thing or two about women's colleges! I can just imagine the deliciously twisted plots they could have come up with!

[Scilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A murder takes place in a small women's college on the shores of the Connecticut River. The protagonist, Rosemary Stubbs, has just come to Sanderson College as the chaplain after retiring from a corporate career and attending divinity school. Shortly after her arrival, a professor is murdered. Rosemary works with detective Raphael Ramirez to figure out the murderer.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A conventional mystery made better by good writing and an interesting setting. A few too many characters in the cast, and too little actual chaplaining and too much CFO on the part of the main character. But she did go to Bryn Mawr, so how could I resist?

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mystery was set on a college campus. It threw in enough suspects, but also threw in a bit too many extraneous characters at times that were just in the story for a short while.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome women's mystery. First in a series?

[Sharron Kennard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't give up your day jobs, ladies.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Rosemary Stubbs has become the chaplain of Sanderson College for women. Soon a faculty member dies and things begin to heat up.