Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Tom Bethany #1

Body Scissors: A Tom Bethany Mystery

Rate this book
When Tom Bethany is hired by presidential candidate Dan Markham to investigate the background of J. Alden Kellicott, the man Markham hopes to appoint Secretary of State, Bethany uncovers shocking secrets about the death of Kellicott's daughter

229 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

21 people want to read

About the author

Jerome Doolittle

15 books1 follower

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
5 (18%)
4 stars
11 (40%)
3 stars
9 (33%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
2 (7%)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Phoebe Meyerson.
113 reviews3 followers
Read
July 11, 2025
A loan from Mahmud! A straightforward mystery with extra delight because of 1) lots of specific late '80s American political references and 2) familiar Harvard Square setting. Mystery genre certainly has some gender issues to work through.
5,717 reviews144 followers
Want to read
April 24, 2019
Synopsis: a presidential candidate hires Tom Bethany to investigate his choice for Secretary of State. Bethany finds murder in the background.
2,100 reviews16 followers
October 26, 2010
A Tom Bethany mystery set in Boston. Bethany is Vietnam veteran who has taken himself off the grid to live covertly. He is security consultant who is hired by a presidential campaign committee to vet a potential Secretary of State nominee. In the course of doing this, he tries to solve the murder of the nominee's daughter a couple of years earlier.

It is not a bad story which started slowly for me, but I got into it after a while. Bethany is a bit of a strange character and it takes a while to deal with him as the lead character.
5,305 reviews62 followers
December 31, 2013
#1 in Tom Bethany series. Finalist 1991 Shamus Award for Best First Novel. Debut novel in the series that ran for 6 novels between 1990 and 1995.

Tom Bethany is hired to vet the man a presidential candidate wants to nominate as Secretary of State. J. Alden Kellicott, a Harvard professor, seems to have impeccable background. His daughter is a dropout and when Tom investigates her he finds evidence that she is not as black as her father paints her. Then Tom is attacked by a knife wielding Hispanic.
Profile Image for LJ.
3,159 reviews305 followers
March 12, 2009
BJODY SCISSORS (Susp-Tom Bethany-Cont)-G
Doolittle, Jerome - 1st of series

From Fantastic Fiction: A presidential candidate hires Bethany to investigate his choice for Secretary of State, J. Alden Kellicot. Bethany finds Kellicot's background flawless--except for his coked-up, murdered daughter. When an attempt is made on Bethany's life, he vows to uncover what someone is desperately trying to hide.

Darker than Block's Matt Scudeder series but good. I may read more of these.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.