Blog Tour: Murder Is Academic by Lesley A. Diehl (Review)

About the Book

Murder Is Academic
(Laura Murphy Mystery Series)
File Size: 1626 KB
Print Length: 223 pages
Publisher: Lesley A. Diehl (March 29, 2014)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
ASIN: B00JCV6XG8

Synopsis

Laura Murphy, psychology professor, thinks there’s nothing she likes better than coffee and donuts on a summer morning until she says yes to dinner with a Canadian biker and finds herself and her date suspects in the murder of her college’s president. Laura’s friend, the detective assigned the case, asks her to help him find out who on the small upstate New York college campus may be a killer. The murder appears to be wrapped up in some unsavory happenings on the lake where Laura lives. A fish kill and raw sewage seeping into the water along with the apparent drowning suicide of a faculty member complicate the hunt for the killer. And then things become personal. The killer makes a threatening phone call to Laura. With a tornado bearing down on the area and the killer intent upon silencing her, Laura’s sleuthing work may come too late to save her and her biker from a watery grave.

My Review

Psychology professor Laura Murphy and her best friend, Annie, are practicing their paddling so they can compete in the canoe regatta. The last thing they expect is to stumble upon a dead body. When the body is identified as Thomas Talbot, the president of their college, they find themselves upon a long list of suspects that could have killed him.

Much to the dismay of her good friend Detective Derek Pasquis (“Der”), Laura sticks her nose right into the middle of the investigation. She meets a construction worker, Guy La France, and things heat up between the two of them until she learns he’s a suspect in the murder, too. Laura doesn’t think he’s a murderer anymore than she is, so the relationship continues but the snooping doesn’t. Many people at the college take exception to Laura's snooping and that just makes her wonder what exactly they are hiding.

Throw in several suspicious co-workers, a deadly storm, an unlikely suicide, a tainted water supply and even Laura’s grown son, who doesn’t like her very much, and you have the start of a good, solid mystery series. I read through this one at a fast rate and tried to figure our the culprit along with Laura, but I was totally on the wrong track until later in the book. The author kept you guessing and gave many good plausible suspects and clues to lead you astray. I enjoyed the ride very much.

A couple of times I did think Laura jumped to conclusions too quickly and stuck her nose into things a bit too often, but that’s all part of the reasons I kept reading. I wanted to know how this all came together in the end. I’m looking forward to reading more of this author’s work.





For reading challenges:
2014 ARC Reading Challenge
2014 E-Book Reading Challenge
Where are you reading? challenge (New York)
2014 My Kind of Mystery Reading Challenge

FTC Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of this book to review for this blog tour. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

About The Author

Like me, my protagonists choose to live their lives close to nature.

From the deep, green river valleys and tree-covered mountains of upstate New York to the palm-treed pastures of the Big Lake Country in Florida, these women have found their homes and their hearts in rural America.

These plucky snoops are joined by a transplant from Connecticut, Eve Appel, who moves to rural Florida to set up a consignment shop with her best friend and partner, Madeleine Boudreau.

All these amateur sleuths yearn for the simple, artless existence of hard work coupled with rustic pleasure.

That’s why they live away from big cities, but murder and violence have a way of stalking us, even our plucky heroines, who think they’ve avoided life’s perils.

Lesley A. Diehl author of cozy mysteries featuring sassy, country gals who enjoy snooping www.lesleyadiehl.com

Tour Participants

May 15 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review, Guest Post, Giveaway
May 16 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review,
May 17 – The Book Junkie - Review, Giveaway
May 19 – Bea’s Book Nook- Review,
May 20 – fuonlyknew ~ Laura’s ramblins and reviews – Review
May 21 – deal sharing aunt – Interview, Giveaway
May 22 – Victoria’s Pages of Romance – Guest Post
May 23 – Traci Andrighett’s blog – Review
May 26 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review, Guest Post, Giveaway
May 27 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview
May 28 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review
May 29 – Back Porchervations – Review, Interview
May 30 – Community Bookstop – Review
May 31 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review