Death of a Department Chair
A Novel
Published on 31. August 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-299-21974-1 (ISBN)
Description
In ""Death of a Department Chair"", protagonist Miriam Held recounts the events of the previous fall when she was suspected of killing Isabel Vittorio, the chair of her department and her former lover. The controversial and contrary Vittorio was, at the time of her death, attempting to block the hire of a brilliant African American female professor. Already under siege for her attempts to increase diversity on campus, Miriam is forced to defend her reputation and her life. As she searches for the truth, Miriam amasses evidence that leaves few friends and colleagues free from suspicion. Both a classic whodunit and a witty satire, ""Death of a Department Chair"" dramatizes how communities can create the very climate of mistrust and paranoia that victimizes them.
Reviews / Votes
Everything moves fast in this mystery romp about desire and academic greed. Lynn Miller gives us not one but two deliciously insensitive villains and one first-rate heroine, not to mention a jumble of realistic crazies that anyone who's ever majored in anything at any university will recognize. A page turner whose witty and caring author makes us curious not only about who done it but who, amazingly enough, managed to hold off and not do it. - Carol Bly, author of My Lord Bag of Rice ""A tidy mystery with enough ambitious careerists and theorists to staff a dozen dysfunctional lit departments. Miller knows where the academic bodies are buried both literally and figuratively, and she touches up a traditional mystery with some lively, non-traditional angles."" - Janice Law, author of NightbusMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Wisconsin
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
349 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-299-21974-1 (9780299219741)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Lynn C. Miller is professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of a novel, The Fool's Journey, and coeditor of Voices Made Flesh: Performing Women's Autobiography.