I work for a university and it was hard to disconnect from my reality and what goes on at this fictional university. The author choses to write a great deal about the main character's experiences as a new professor and less on the mystery. That's fine in a first book af a series, I consider it character development and world building, but it can be a fine line to turning off the reader. I was actually interested in all of that to compare the experience of a liberal arts professor to that of one in the sciences. What turned me off was the female characters dressing and being treated as if they were from a previous generation. The books are supposed to be contemporary. I do read about some of the crazy, unjust garbage that still goes on in some universities and that may be the author's own experience, but the quest for tenure only goes so far as an explanation for taking abuse.

The whodunnit was weak for me and the ultimate reason seemed a bit far fetched. Still, the whole thing was interesting enough to have me finish.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Great idea and concept for a book. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Highly recommended. .

I enjoyed this book. It really had me hooked, and I am excited to read more by this author. I recommended it to my local book club and a few friends.

Synopsis

English professor Lila Maclean is so excited to be working Stonedale University, that is until she finds one of her colleagues dead. Lila—or someone she is protecting— is considered a person of interest. So much so that anyone connected to her is a suspect. As a result she decides that she find out identity of the killer.

Unfortunately, there is more than one attack and more professors die and the only connection is a symbol at each of the crime scenes. A symbol that no will explain to Lila, so as she gathers evidence, an unexpected enemy, a suspicious investigator, and a secret society. impede her investigation. It would have helped if people would just answer her questions.

My opinion and rating 4.8

I really like this story! The reason I liked the story is two-fold, the author Cynthia Kuhn has (almost) the career that I would like. She is a writer and university professor, I would like to be a full-time writer and remote university professor. The other reason is the main character, Lila Maclean, is so well written. I mean everything that the main character says and does is very realistic. I can see it happening as it unfolds. Consequently, I read the book almost straight through. I just love it when I find a new writer to follow!

This book is highly recommended by me and I hope a lot of people enjoy Lila Maclean as much as I did.