The Mark Twain Murders

Edith Skom

Marylou Peacock is trying to finish up a paper in the library at Midwestern University in Chicago. It is very late, the end of the quarter, very quiet, and few people are around. While in the restroom she hears strange noises. The next morning she is found dead in that same room.

The next day Professor Elizabeth, Beth, Austin turns a paper into the head of the Midwestern English Department, Porter DeMont. She knows it has been plagarized. The writing style is not of someone who is a junior in college. It was written by Marylou Peacock. It apparently has nothing to do with the murder. It seems she was murdered by someone systematically stealing valuable books off the shelves.

Gil Bailey is the FBI agent who is called in to investigate the case. He is immediately attracted to Beth. He laughs at her investigation of the plagarism, especially since the student is now dead. She is determined to follow it through. She is spending an extraordinary amount of time at the library, well into the quiet nights. Later, another English professor is found the next morning, dead in his private carrel. Had he seen the same thing or person Ms. Peacock had seen?

This is a fairly quick reading book with an interesting mystery. I learned quite a bit about Samuel Clemens' biography. Another fascinating aspect was the discussion of valuable books shelved out in the normal stacks. I would not have guessed so many first editions of long dead famous authors could be found on the normal library shelves instead of in a rare book area. I missed the clues to the murderer. Until the murderer is unmasked I still did not know who or why. This is an enjoyable novel.