While this calls itself a murder mystery, the actual murder investigation (of a university professor, which is just for starters) plays second fiddle. The main player seems to be the politics, in-house fighting and battles for power that go on in a university…well, this university. I found it tedious and rather laboured, as there is a lot of jargon (academic and entomological) used, which went way over my head. Whilst some of this narrative is necessary to explain the motives for the murder(s), it's overdone. (Full synopsis here)
One other criticism is that there are a few chapters dedicated to flashbacks, but no indication that that's what they are; the chapters merely have a number and no title, so it takes a few minutes to realise, oh, hang on, we've gone back in time here.
However, I was impressed by the writing. The author is very articulate, and I did like the way he described mannerisms, his characters, their personalities…he's very adept at word-painting a scene.
I enjoyed this, albeit with some reservations, and I certainly wasn't expecting who did it!
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