Quoth the Raven

Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is schedued to give a lecture at a small, private college in the Pennsylvania mountains on Hallween night.

When the school's most eminent professor disappears and the secretary is poisoned with lye in front of a cafeteria full of students and faculty Demarkian gives a lesson in applied investigative skills as Hallween revelers party and prepare the school's traditional annual bonfire.

This was quite a pleasant cozy, and I enjoyed it, though I did have a couple of problems with it.

I found the author's choice of words distracting at times. I'm not referring to the dialogue.

Another thing I found distracting was that although it was set in the 1990's, it seemed dated to the early 1960's in many respects, and many of the students seemed naive and childish, as did much of the way Halloween motif was done. I just can't picture female college students dressed en masse as pumpkins, or male college students in Batman costumes. The repeated mention of girls sewing costumes and making paper crepe decorations was dated and a bit distracting as well.

Even with the problems I had with this book, I enjoyed it and am inclined to give the author and the series another try. ( )

Fourth in the Gregor Demarkian series about a retired FBI agent. Gregor's friend Tibor is teaching at Independent College for a semester and asks Gregor to give a talk on his FBI experiences on Halloween, and to bring Bennis with him. As they arrive, a secretary in Tibor's program falls down in the cafeteria. Gregor recognizes that she has ingested lye and starts to treat her. Meanwhile, a new, really obnoxious professor, has disappeared.

Good novel, good series. ( )

Father Tibor Kasparian has been invited to teach for a semester at a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. As Halloween approaches, he manages to secure an invitation for Gregor Demarkian to give a talk on FBI procedures for capturing serial killers. Accordingly, Demarkian, accompanied by Bennis Hannaford (naturally--who's going to keep her away?), arrives at the college which is in enthusiastic preparation for Halloween, a holiday that has been specially celebrated since time out of mind on the campus in a highly ritualized way--with blackouts, costumes, and a massive bonfire. Demarkian arrives in time to witness a horrifying and baffling attack, by lye, on an aging secretary of the program in which Tibor teaches. In addition, a highly paid, very prestigous, and universally loathed professor in that same program is missing. Add to the mix Lenore, a semi-tame raven, who is behaving most peculiarly. The climax comes fittingly on Halloween night.

The fourth in the Gergor Demarkian Holiday series, Quoth the Raven is not one of Haddam's best efforts. The characters seem strained and hard to believe (even for academics), and the plot is introduced in a confusing fashion. Lenore the Raven (who turns out in reality to be Leonard) plays a part, but again, "her" role seems rather forced.

Still, the Haddam sense of humor is right there and we're compensated by learning a good deal about raven behavior.

A good if not spectacular read. ( )