The Maltese Manuscript (Paperback)

The Maltese Manuscript is the fifth volume in Professor Joanne Dobson's series about Professor Karen Pelletier. In Quieter than Sleep, readers first met the professor. Doctor Pelletier found herself pregnant as a teen in high school, and dropped out of her plans to go to Smith to marry her truck driver lover. After a difficult pregnancy and marital abuse, she put her life together to raise her daughter as a single Mom while pursuing her academic career. Finally finding love with a cop in New York, she abandoned him to follow her desire for a career to settle at tony, elite Enfield College in New England. Arriving at Enfield, she became the new kid on the English department block sharing responsibilities for 19th century American literature with an aggressive, pompous womanizer who wanted to discuss more than literature with her. She found herself attracted to all the wrong men, and attracted attention from men she would rather avoid. Ah well, back to those term papers! In The Northbury Papers, the professor had an unusual stroke of luck that made her career prospects much brighter. In The Raven and the Nightingale, she made an important literary discovery and explored the nature of originality. In Cold and Pure and Very Dead, the author explores what makes literature significant and finally develops the love interest between the professor and her police lieutenant sparring partner. The primary appeal of the series is that Professor Dobson has created a memorable character who will resonate with all those who question pretension. Increasingly, the other characters are becoming memorable as well.

Those who liked Quieter than Sleep, The Northbury Papers, The Raven and the Nightingale, or Cold and Pure and Very Dead may not like The Maltese Manuscript as much unless they like the series mostly for its characters and academic-spoofing humor. This book is a strong departure in style from the earlier books. If you think you would like a thinking person's Stephanie Plum, then The Maltese Manuscript is probably for you.

I recommend reading Quieter than Sleep before this book because the characters and the context won't make as much sense without having read that book first. Otherwise, you may find this book to be a four-star read.

This book is almost a spoof and delivers on the very promising sense of humor by the author that was hinted at in Cold and Pure and Very Dead. I was reminded of Hoodwink in the Nameless Detective series by Mr. Bill Pronzini.

Enfield College is planning a Women's Studies conference, and noted crime novelist, Ms. Sunnye Hardcastle, has been hired to speak. That invitation makes the conference high profile, and shifts its focus onto feminism in detective fiction. Ms. Hardcastle reads the topic of Professor Pelletier's talk, and orders her driver to head for Enfield. Ms. Hardcastle wants Professor Pelletier to help her research her next book. Ms. Hardcastle's entrance is a memorable one:

"The door to my office opened, and a dame walked in, bringing Trouble with her. The dame was Sunnye Hardcastle, celebrated crime novelist, and Trouble was her dog, a big Rottweiler with teeth like boning knives." The obvious reference to the classic noir detective fiction style is very cleverly and humorously done. The fun continues throughout the book. The language of academic studies about women provides constant sources of humor throughout the book.

Because of their connection, Professor Pelletier is assigned to be Ms. Hardcastle's escort during her visit for the conference. During the conference, a dead body is found in the library, the manuscript of The Maltese Falcon disappears, a student and her ward disappear, and Ms. Hardcastle becomes a suspect. In the background, the library has been losing its detective fiction to an unknown thief for some time. When Charlie Piotrowski takes on the investigation, the potential for humorous mishaps explodes. Charlie tells Karen to keep out of the investigation. Miffed, she responds by withholding evidence and driving him up the wall. Can their relationship survive these strains?

As I finished the book, I found myself wondering how I can cleanse my own writing of jargon that is impenetrable and off-putting to the general reader. Specialists, beware of hiding your expertise with stilted language!

Enfield College is staging a murder mystery conference, academic style (from a feminist perspective), and has assigned its demanding celebrity guest, Sunnye Hardcastle, and her muscle-bound rottweiler, Trouble, to Karen. In addition, a whole set of 19th century penny-dreadfuls Karen needs for her own "Murder in History" paper has been stolen and an inventory has turned up greater thefts, among them the original manuscript of Dashiell Hammett's "Maltese Falcon." And then, opening night, a thief is murdered in the library.

Karen likes Sunnye a lot better as a suspect than as sharp-tongued celebrity and is soon at cross purposes with the cop in charge, her boyfriend, Charlie. The thief's house is a treasure-trove of rare books - all stolen - and there's lots of rare-book lore along with the diverging lines of amateur, police and private eye (an old high school pal of Karen's) investigation.

Dobson keeps her wit sharp skewering every mystery genre available, as well as the academic setting, but keeps her humor from taking over the mystery, which wraps up in a neat surprise, scattering red herrings along the way. A clever balance.

I liked how Dobson skipped ahead to Karen & Charlie already being in the relationship. I get tired of the will they or won't they dance so many book series and TV shows perform. I never would do that in real life, why should I expect the characters I care about to do the same? Despite the existing relationship, there still is some tension between the two, and I think it's realistic and well done. I LOVE how Charlie made up to Karen after they had had a fight!

There are missing books, a suspicious death and a man from Karen's past. I had many theories about how all of these were going to be resolved, and I was pleasantly surprised when I was mostly wrong. I don't know if Dobson needed a new publisher, but I'm glad that Poisoned Pen Press is continuing to publish this fine author.