Murder at University Park

Academic life is notoriously difficult, and striving for tenure often proves arduous if not impossible, but in this case, it might be deadly. Lacey is in a particularly impossible position; she’s a woman in the sciences—nutrition—with a department chair who dislikes her, a troublesome student who is the son of a major donor, and a data set from the chair that doesn’t add up. She needs tenure because her husband’s job and children’s lives are to the town. Her best friend, a computer specialist who is helping unravel the data problem, is found dead, the abusive department chair also dies, and the interim chair is an unknown. But enemies and danger don’t end there—even the family dog is in jeopardy. Twists and turns and false friends abound, but a rare true friend emerges. This is set in the late 1990s, so the time frame is a bit strange, not current, not historic, but overall, Dellasega offers an interesting and engaging puzzle.—Danise Hoover