The Maltese Manuscript

In The Maltese Manuscript, Joanne Dobson succeeds where others have failed. Dobson takes us within the hallowed walls of an academic setting and manages to keep the story fresh, the plot lively, the characters real, and most importantly of all, the mystery satisfying to the end. Karen Pelletier is a professor (untenured as of yet) in the English Department at Enfield College, a prestigious institution in suburban Massachusetts. Karen is a single mother of Amanda, a student away at college, and she is romatically attached to Lieutenant Charlie Piotrowski of the Enfield Police Department. She is a strong, independent woman, something that can be a headache for Charlie at the best of times. Karen is visited by none other than Sunnye Hardcastle, author of the Kit Danger series, a hard-boiled, straight-shootin' private investigator with nerves of steel. Karen is ecstatic when Sunnye agrees to attend Enfield's Women's Studies Conference where Karen is to present a paper and speech on murder in American working class literature. Sunnye appears to be a s tough as her character, Kit Danger, and always travels with her trusty sidekick, Trouble, a massive Rotweiler with a delight for roast beef sandwiches. There is something wrong at Enfield College. Rare books are disappearing from the Enfield Special Collections Sections and no one can figure out how the thief is gaining access to the stacks and getting the books out of the building. Some of the questions are answered when a mousy little man, Elwood Munro, is murdered during the Women's Studies Conference. The police suspect Sunnye Hardcastle was involved in the murder. Karen, much to Charlie's chagrin, sets out toprove them wrong. With a shootout at the Enfield corral, Dobson brings The Maltese Manuscript to an exciting conclusion. Dobson's story is free of stereotypes or cliches and it shows her mettle as a solid mystery writer. If you like a fast-moving erudite mystery, this should meet your needs