
AUTHOR: Donn E. Taylor
DATE: 2016
PUBLISHER: Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas
STARS: ****
He is a reclusive history professor with musical hallucinations, she a headstrong professor of religion, a converted Wiccan. Earlier, they solved a campus murder, but now police say they formed two-thirds of an illicit love triangle with a newly murdered female colleague and they're probably guilty of her murder. A leak of the alleged scandal to the college administration threatens their jobs. Their desperate attempt to prove themselves innocent of the triangle and the murder plunges them into a tangle of unsavory corporate relationships among college trustees. And it puts their lives in danger from a mysterious criminal organization that seems to have tentacles everywhere.
Can this ill-matched pair's stumbling efforts succeed against the entrenched forces of the police, the college's incompetent administration, and that powerful but unseen criminal organization? If not, they may end up unemployed, in prison, or suffering a fate much worse .
. .
A complicated mystery, untrustworthy police officers, and a heroine and hero with their own deep issues all combine to make a great whodunit. Murder Mezzo Forte is the second Preston Barclay mystery, but the author gives enough detail from the previous book to fill in any blanks. I appreciate that. In fact, my only negative about this story is not the author’s fault. The hero’s musical hallucinations are fascinating, but his references to what was playing at any time emphasized my lack of education in the fine arts. However, this did not detract from my pleasure in the problematical twists and turns of the story, and I hope to read more of this series.
Murder Mezzo Forte earns four solid stars. Disclaimer: I obtained this book from the publisher.