Death at the Alma Mater [Paperback]

The third book in this marvelous mystery series finds Detective Chief Inspector Arthur St. Just investigating a murder at St. Michael's College at Cambridge. The most unusual thing about this assortment of former students who have been invited back to St. Mike's is that they have all been very successful financially, but there is also a lot of past history tying these people together. Now the Master and the Bursar look to this weekend with the hope of convincing them to make much needed financial contributions. The old place is crumbling down and some serious repairs need to be made. Unfortunately, the guest list includes Sir James Bassett, his current wife India and his former wife Lexy Laurant. Everybody knows that combination can only spell trouble. When one of the potential donors is found murdered St. Just and Sergeant Fear must forsake their time off to find the culprit.

Once again a mystery by G. M. Malliet gives lovers of detective stories a really good, difficult mystery to solve while also including her trademark tongue in cheek presentation of the classic Golden Age novel. The plot of the story, the actual mystery, was very well done. I certainly did not foresee the twist presented at the end. There are appearances by Portia De'Ath (from Death and the Lit Chick: A St. Just Mystery - the second book in the series) who is supposed to be spending her summer at St. Mike's working on her thesis but is in reality getting more of her mystery novel written. The relationship between St. Just and Portia has progressed to an understanding between them, but St. Just is adamant about not allowing Portia to get involved in this investigation in order to protect her and keep his private life and his profession separate. I can't help but wonder if this author is going to be able to continue along that path for much longer. It just seems that these two characters are meant to investigate crimes together.

This was a very satisfying read for me. I enjoyed it very much and appreciate the growth I see in these characters from one book to the next. Even Sergeant Fear's darling little daughter Emma is back with her programming abilities for his cell phone. If you have not read either of the other two books in the series, don't worry, this is very definitely a stand alone book. Any spoofing of the "cozy" mystery or the standardized "police procedural" is done in a very gentle, warm way. I have read some criticism of the method this author chose in the "twist" at the end which I mentioned before. While I agree that it would probably not have been my choice for how the murder happened I can honestly say that it did not diminish my enjoyment of the book in any way. We get a list of the cast of characters, we get a diagram of the College grounds, we get chapters with honest-to-goodness titles, and we get a well plotted mystery. A cracking fine novel for me.

I have to say that this book is nowhere near as good as the other two St. Just mysteries.
I agree with another reviewer who said some of the American characters are straight out of an Agatha Christie book-that's exactly what I thought when I was reading it.
Portia is becoming annoying too, almost as annoying as her last name.
As for how the murder was committed, that was so laughable and you could have driven a truck through the holes in the plot.
SPOILER ALERT!!
A blow-up doll? He never thought someone could actually see them both outside and join them? No one saw him dismantle the doll?
I'll definitely go to the library for the 4th installment of the St. Just mysteries . . . definitely not worth buying.

Bravo, well written and forces one to drive through reading. Great book for an exciting evening mystery read. Author is very creative and challenges the reader to keep guessing "What's Next". Highly recommended reading for Mystery followers. AGG

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars