Thursday 4 February 2021

Murder Mezzo Forte - Donn E. Taylor - Preston Barclay Mystery Book 2

Murder Mezzo Forte
Preston Barclay Mystery Book 2
ISBN 9781938499098
ASIN B01D3UM8NU


I picked a couple of books from Donn a few years ago. Back in 2017 I picked up Rhapsody in Red and Deadly Additive but did not get around to reading them. Then I picked up this one a few months ago. This is the first I have read but it seems very familiar. I do not recall if I started one of the others and never finished it. But the characters and settings and reference to the first story all seem to click but I have not recoded finishing the book. I do not even recall how I stumbled across this author. But I really enjoyed this story. 

In some ways it reads like Columbo, in fact that is who Professor Barclay reminds me of most it is Colombo had been a professor and kept finding bodies instead of a cop. 

That is what happens in this story Professor Barclay is a professor with a penchant for stirring thing sup at a Christian college that is trying to become more mainline. It is rebranding to Overton University, from Overton Grace College. It is the time for sessional professors to receive their renewals and for the board is in town for meetings. And then it happens again. For the second time Barclay along with Mara Thorn a former Wiccan find a body on campus. But this time the accusations against them make even less sense thank last time. But they also appears to be proof. A journal left behind by the deceased claiming a long affair and a blow up with Mara.  

The story is full of wit and wisdom. Of puns and pugnaciousness. But can Barclay and Thorn put the pieces together in time. Not only to save their jobs, their reputations but maybe even their own lives. But when the actions of some police do not make sense. And they are given clues about some financial dealings slowly they start to put the pieces together again. 

The characters are great. The pace of the story is excellent. This is the second of the Preston Barclay mysteries, and the first I have read. But It will not be the last. A good mystery filled with life in academia and a small-town feel. A fun read.

Books by Donn E. Taylor:
Lightning on a Quiet Night
Deadly Additive
Dust and Diamond: Poems of Earth and Beyond
The Lazarus File

Preston Barclay Mysteries:
Rhapsody in Red
Murder in Disguise





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