Death with Dostoevsky

Hyde’s lively fourth Crime with the Classics mystery (after Cyanide with Christie) finds Prof. Emily Cavanaugh back at Bede College in Portland, Ore., to research and eventually write “the definitive English-language work on Dostoevsky’s tormented relationship with his Orthodox faith as it played out in his fiction.” She shares a study area with Daniel Razumov, a former student of hers, who has become the new target of Taylor Curzon, a 40-something professor with a habit of “sinking her teeth into a different piece of fresh young male meat each semester.” When Taylor ends up beaten to death, all the evidence points to Daniel, who has no alibi, nor does he have any memory of the time the crime was committed. Emily steps up to investigate and soon uncovers plenty of other suspects. She lays out her reasoning in such a way as to allow the reader to follow her thoughts, but not necessarily beat her to the crime’s solution. Campus hijinks and budding romances complement the satisfying fair-play plot. [em]Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron Assoc. (Dec.) [/em]