Murder at Markham

Sheila Travis #1

by Patricia Sprinkle

When Sheila Travis takes a job at the prestigious Markham School, she expects to deal with lively students, not a dead woman in the library stacks. When another body turns up, Sheila knows something has to be done. Will she be able to handle the academic infighting in time to prevent another murder?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller

218 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Aka Patricia Houck Sprinkle.

When I met and married Bob, he looked over our budget and demanded, "Why don’t you write a mystery to pay for all the ones you buy?" I immediately knew I wanted to put a body in a building where I’d once worked. However, being over-endowed with the Protestant ethic, I wrote "important" things first and only wrote the mystery in my spare time, so my first mystery, Murder at Markham (reissued by Silver Dagger in 2001), took thirteen years to complete. It took even longer for me to learn that any writing which gives me pleasure is important, whether fiction or non-fiction.

Since 1988 I have written twenty mysteries, four novels, and five non-fiction books. I am grateful to my readers and editors for letting me do what I enjoy most in the world. Bob has concluded that writing is not a profession, it's an obsession--my favorite vacation is to go to a place where somebody else fixes my meals and where I can write more than I do at home, without interruptions. Thanks, if you are one of the readers who keeps my fingers on the keys. I enjoy spending time with you at conferences, book clubs, and signing events.

Reviews

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the first in the author's Sheila Travis Mysteries Series. That series is one of my favorite series, and the protagonist is one of my all-time favorite sleuths. That said, this is my LEAST favorite book in the series, and I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the series or to Patricia Houk Sprinkle's writings. I liked the book only because I had already read all the other books in the series and was hungry for more. But it wasn't very filling, just an "okay" read. While I liked reading about how Sheila Travis - with the help of her Aunt Mary - solved the crime, the (many) other characters in the book were just not fleshed out enough for me to either care or to keep them straight in my mind. Also, Sheila seemed to stumble into the solution rather than to use her brain as she does in the other books in the series.
I would recommend the readers begin with "Murder in the Charleston Manner", which I believe is the second in the series. The setting is much better suited to the main character's personality, and also that of her Aunt Mary, her partner in crime solving.

[Falina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finished it, but the cheesy ending made me realize that the whole book is just a little too lame. the characters and plot a little too underdeveloped to make the story work. I understand that Sheila and her husband weren't close, but the way his recent death is used as a plot device to launch the new situation is weird. None of the supporting characters are attractive or interesting enough to make Sheila's staunch loyalty to Markham after such a short time believable. Neither one of the love interests make me want to see them more in another novel. I read it maybe 3 days ago, and I've already forgotten who the murderer is, which is an indication of how much impact the mystery had on me.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder at Markham is Patricia Sprinkle's debut mystery novel. It features Sheila Travis, the recently widowed wife of a diplomat. Sheila has just returned to the States from Japan and is looking for a job--not out of financial necessity, but as a way of keeping occupied while she sorts out her life. She lands a job as administrative assistant to John Dehaviland, the extremely pompous president of the Markham Institute. Markham is a very old and respected training ground for up-and-coming graduate students in the world of diplomatic affairs. Sheila barely has time to settle into her new job before a young woman is found dead in one of the icy cold storage rooms in the Institute's basement. The freezer-like conditions have kept the body from being discovered even though the murder happened nearly a month ago at the beginning of the Christmas break.

Rumors of Sheila's involvement in a few similar incidents in Japan reach Mike Flanagan, the investigating officer, and he gives her strict instructions to keep her nose out of his case. But Sheila's Aunt Mary arrives and uses her Southern charm to win over Flanagan so he will keep the ladies informed on the progress of the investigation. Nick Capeletti, Markham's business manager, is shoved down the stairs and the former administrative secretary is murdered as well. Flanagan's investigation makes him single out Quint Barringer, the former lover of the first victim, as the killer. But Sheila and her aunt are convinced that Flanagan has blinders on and isn't seeing the whole picture. They start asking questions on their own and soon Sheila's life is in danger too. A final showdown in Markham's lounge is needed to bring the culprit out in the open.

This is a decent story for a first novel. There are characters with some flair and some very good descriptions of the Markham Institute and Chicago. I like the Chicago setting very much--which goes a long way considering I'm more of a British mystery kind of girl. The mystery is fairly clued--perhaps too much so because I spotted the important ones right away. I didn't get quite all the right answers in the right order, but near enough to spot the killer long before the denouement. I am grateful to Erin at The Paperback Stash--she mentions a Patricia Sprinkle mystery (from a later series) on her blog. As part of the 2013 Book Bingo Challenge we're supposed to take a suggestion from another participant to read for our Free Space. I wasn't able to find Who Invited the Dead Man? at my library, but it did lead me to Murder at Markham--a new academic setting to fit into my love for academic mysteries. Three stars for a decent read.

This was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as engaging as the other Sprinkle books I've read. Her Thoroughly Southern Mysteries series was delightful. This book had too many characters to keep straight, and I felt little reason to care about them. I may try later books in the series.

[Lori Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite

A cute mystery with likable characters. I may have overlook when the story was to have taken place but I could not time period to the story. Will probably try the others in the series anyway.

[Allison Grosik | Cozies & Classics · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book by any means, and the murderer was a surprise to me! Just not great, and I had a hard time becoming engaged in the story. Glad to read from other reviews that this author becomes better (this was her first book) and I will be on the lookout for others by her in the future!

[Patricia Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were just too many characters to keep up with, and I couldn't muster any connection with any of them. In the long run, I didn't really care "who done it". I'll read the next in the series, though. I believe I read a few of hers many years ago and I did enjoy them.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Widowed Sheila Travis, who's spent most of her life in Japan, gets a job at prestigious Chicago diplomatic training ground the Markham, and finds the body of a former fiancee of one of the students in a storeroom. Her wealthy, curious and charming Aunt Mary insists they investigate.

[Joyce Hertzoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this one up at a used book store when I realized I hadn’t read this Shiela Travis story before. Recently widowed Shiela is hired at a college that trains future diplomats. I never did figure out whether it was part of The University of Chicago or not. Sprinkle obviously doesn’t know that area of Chicago as well as she knows the south, where the other Shiela Travis books are set. With Aunt Mary visiting, Shiela investigates the death of a young woman found wrapped in an oriental rug in the basement of Markham Institute as well as ensuing crimes including another death. A quick and enjoyable read.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started reading this and wondering about some of the political incorrectness and when it was written (i.e. not as new as the reprint led me to believe) and the no women at West Point clinched it. It was written in the 80’s and reminded me of Murder, She Wrote not just because it was a woman who helped the police but because there was a desperate lack of understanding police procedure (Jessica Fletcher knew more). I almost stopped reading when the cop, Detective Flanagan, said there was no need for time of death (or was it our heroine, Sheila Travis) I about stopped but I was half way in so…

Sheila was a diplomat’s wife and Tyler has passed so she’s returned to the States after years in Japan. She’s now the personal assistant to the president of Markham, a university that trains future diplomats. I couldn’t tell if she had some other personal connection but she acts like this was her home forever. She’s been there a week and is defending the students and the school like she’s been a matron there for years.

Sheila was there when Melanie is found wrapped in a rug in the basement of the school. She, along with her very wealthy older aunt, start sleuthing, especially when Flanagan fixates on a student, Quint, very early on. Too early on really since at the time he had an alibi and Flanagan never considered anyone else for pretty much all the novel.

Sheila blow hot and cold the whole novel about everything, her feminism, her feelings about Markham, the students, Flanagan you name it. This woman was all over the place. She and her aunt bend and break rules all over the place and when Sheila is attacked, does she report it? Nope, ‘what could the cops do?’ I’m sorry if I’m investigating a crime and someone tries to strangle me, everyone would know.

Naturally Sheila always knows more than the detective (and far more than he does because he’s not really doing his job) and we have to have the get all the suspects together and go thru them all until we get to the villain. There are so many characters and most of them (including the protagonist) are poorly drawn. Sheila’s aunt and the piano-playing Peter are about the only ones with personality. This went on to be a series in the late 80’s early 90’s but I probably won’t be looking for more.

[Jana Denardo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 80's era mystery failed in pretty much every way to engage me. I found the characters flat and Sheila Travis, the protagonist, flipflopped on every emotional front. She's all over the map. The mystery really made no sense once Sheila does the cliche bring everyone together for the big reveal.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the first Patricia Sprinkle book I read, but then, this is a different series and her very first book.

[Ette · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish - Bad!

[Mary]

This book wasn't as interesting as the first one of the series. I just had to plow through it. I do like the main characters but I feel that there are too many characters to keep track of.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Widowed Sheila takes an admin. job in Chicago at Markham, a diplomacy school. With her Aunt Mary, she solves the mystery of a dead woman wrapped in a rug and found in an ice-cold storeroom.

[Di · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this series. Not quite sure how I feel about this one.