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The fourth novel in the highly acclaimed series by Lev Raphael begins on a high note. It appears that Nick's career is finally moving in the right direction, and the celebrity that comes with solving murders has brought him more students than he can possibly handle. But things are never calm at the State University of Michigan: Nick's partner's career seems to be taking a downturn, a new faculty member is causing a lot of nasty talk, and cryptic messages are showing up in Nick's mailbox. What turns up next is a corpse -- and some very unsettling thoughts for the reluctant sleuth.
From the book:
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Suddenly the door from the men's locker room to the pool thundered open and Juno and I turned. Dean Bullerschmidt surged through, looking murderous. Workaholic, power-hungry Bullerschmidt was renowned at SUM for driving people crazy with relentless e-mails and early-morning meetings. In utterly shapeless swim trunks as large as a flag, he thudded along the blue tiled floor to our end of the pool, almost knocking over a young lifeguard without apologizing, his grotesque, fat-flapping, ruined body looming like a decayed parade float. We stood in the pool aghast. Bullerschmidt said nothing to me, and without even asking Juno if he could share her lane (which was standard pool etiquette), Bullerschmidt angrily crashed down into the pool, the wave of water almost sending me and Juno under. "Vile bastard," Juno said, not remotely sotto voce, as SUM's answer to the Borgias proceeded to "water walk" down to the other end of the pool as briskly as a man of his enormous bulk could do. He was the size of John Candy, but there was nothing really ingratiating or the least bit goofy about him--every pound seemed like a brick in a tower from which he meant to pour boiling oil on his enemies, and maybe even his friends, if he had any. |
Advance Praise for Little Miss Evil:
- It's been said that academic politics are so vicious because the
stakes are so small. Lev Raphael's satiric eye and the ironic voice
of his refined but supremely sensible protagonist, Nick Hoffman,
illuminate this exotic world for those of us on the outside. No one
understands or conveys the comic reality--and murderous potential--of the trivial and tremendous pressures of campus life as well as Lev Raphael.
S.J. Rozan, author of Stone Quarry - Welcome to the State University of Michigan, where back-stabbing is
a college sport, rumor-mongering is a core course, and murderous
envy is campus king. SUM's fractured faculty inspire more laughs
than a night of Seinfeld reruns. But what makes Little Miss Evil
especially delightful is Lev Raphael's narrative voice: literate,
sensitive, wise--and unabashedly sexy.
Martha C. Lawrence, author of Pisces Rising - Nick Hoffman is back, relegated to the basement of his college so
he won't get into trouble. But when someone torches his mailbox,
Nick gets the hint that an arsonist is carrying a flame for him. As
ever, Lev Raphael is witty, biting and on the nail when it comes to
the groves and gripes of academe, majoring in mayhem and murder
along the way.
Ian Rankin, author of Dead Souls