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An unexpected bequest sends waves of violence through the placid groves of academe in Joanne Dobson's third mystery to feature Professor Karen Pelletier. Still untenured, and therefore on shaky academic ground, feisty young Enfield College professor Pelletier finds herself going head-to-head with the resident Edgar Allan Poe expert, Elliot Corbin, an academic windbag of monumental proportions who is lobbying to be appointed to the much-coveted and recently vacated Palaver Chair. So when show more Karen receives a serendipitous bonanza in the form of never-before-seen manuscripts and journals by the nineteenth-century poet Emmeline Foster, who is rumored to have killed herself for the love of Poe, Corbin is predictably put out. Subsequently, the corrosive Corbin is stabbed to death in his home on Thanksgiving Day. Karen has an airtight alibi, but other suspects abound--from the head of the women's studies program, who also pines for the Palaver Chair; to Visiting Poet Jane Birdwort, whose history with Corbin turns out to be far longer (and closer) than anyone had known; to the perpetually disgruntled department secretary; to a young female adjunct professor whose unbridled ambition will not be denied. Then Karen's office is ransacked, and a number of the Emmeline Foster journals and poems are stolen, so it looks more and more as if Corbin's death may be inextricably entwined with the muse of his life--poet of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. The undeniably attractive Lieutenant Piotrowski is called in, and, as in the past, he solicits Karen's help, involving her once more in the thankless task of investigating her not-always-so-collegial colleagues. As she did in her first two widely acclaimed novels, Joanne Dobson uses her savvy insider's knowledge of academic politics and her considerable talent for complex plotting to produce a witty and eminently satisfying entertainment. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Once again English professor Karen Pelletier uses her literary scholarship to solve a murder. I like how Ms. Dobson mixes a long-ago literary mystery with a present-day homicide in each of her books. As well, she has an unerring ear for academic jargon that is quite entertaining. Her characters are engaging and the setting (a college that shares some of the characteristics of both Smith and Amherst) is well-drawn. Highly recommended.
Another enjoyable entry in the Karen Pelletier mysteries though I did think this novel suffered more than the previous entries for having a literary mystery that was more interesting than the murder. That aside it was a cozy read on a winter weekend.
I admit to not being one with great insight to critique of the arts but simply am an avid fan of mysteries. With that said I enjoy Dobson's series but it is slower then most other series I read and the focus on literature and more so poetry leaves a bit mor bore as it is a topic I know nothing of.
But I like the primary reoccurring characters enough to keep reading the series
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Author Information
14+ Works 1,105 Members
Joanne Dobson is an associate professeor of English at Fordham University.
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Raven and the Nightingale
- Original publication date
- 1999
- People/Characters
- Edgar Allan Poe; Karen Pelletier; Elliot Corbin; Emmeline Foster; Lt. Piotrowski
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 190
- Popularity
- 171,436
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.49)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 2
