Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Double Negative by David Carkeet


This is a mystery novel with a very different twist. We visit the Wabash Institute, dedicated to the study of linguistics - especially language development in babies and toddlers. A very odd murder is discovered - he was the oldest of the academics but did not pass away in his sleep. Furthermore, he was sitting in someone else's office. Introduce a police detective who is a cross between Colombo and Bertie Wooster; build in a gradual increase in suspicion; throw in all the rivalries found in any academic setting --- and you have a thriller leavened with the nuttiness of the individual characters. The ending is quite unique...I don't believe I have ever ever read one like this.

Lauretta

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