Harvard economics instructor Nikki Chase is horrified when she discovers that the Princeton University professor who mentored her, who had written a controversial bestseller on race, has died suspiciously in a fire at the university.
Pamela Thomas-Graham is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College and a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. Now president and CEO of CNBC Television, she divides her time between Westchester County and Manhattan.
An interesting mystery, taking place on the Princeton University campus. I think that Ms. Thomas-Graham gives a good overview of what campus politics can be like and how the faculty and staff interact. I was intrigued enough that I took her other two books, starring the same female professor, out to read.
In a nutshell I didn’t care much for this book although I did enjoy the descriptions of Princeton at Christmas. I found that the story lacked tension and none of characters were particularly appealing.
I have wanted to read Pamela Thomas-Graham's books before and for some reason the big three (Amazon, Borders and B&N) are always out of her books or they aren't in print anymore, something, and this was my my first opportunity. I think this is the third of the three books she has written. Anyway, I thought it was good easy reading; a perfect book to read in between two longer or heavier books. The main character, Nikki, was interesting and I enjoyed hearing a bit of her back story as she attempted to solve the mystery. However, I was 3/4s of the way into the book before I felt things really got going. There was no suspense or close calls until the end. I was very surprised by how things turned out, but I would have liked to have been on the edge of my seat a bit more.
Where to begin? This book was lent to me because it's set at my alma mater. It was rife with all the hackneyed stereotypes about Princeton (i.e., that all Princetonians are blonde, rich, conservative WASPs; that Princeton is a bastion of white elitism). The author has a very impressive resume and is a graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law and HBS, so I was surprised that the novel wasn't better. The plot was weak and, for a mystery, it wasn't a particularly suspenseful book. The writing was pretty bad and the dialogue was trite at best.