The Square Root of Murder by Ada Madison. Mysteries with amateur detectives who are mathematicians or scientists or that feature math and science have a particular pull for me. As the years have gone by I've become more interested in, for example, algebra, and do quadratic equations for fun - they are so much more relaxing than reading serious literature because they have a definitive answer with little ambiguity. The same goes with mysteries of course and this first in a series about college math teacher Sophie Knowles is a treat. A second book in the series comes out in March.
2011 No 191
A Spark of Death by Bernadette Pajer. This first of the Professor Bradshaw mysteries is about exploring the uses of electricity, which was fairly new phenomenon in 1901. When a much disliked University of Washington professor is found dead in a Farady Cage in the school's lab the police come looking for his colleague, Professor Bradshaw. Set in turn of the last century Seattle and at the Snoqualmie Falls, the book is interesting as well as entertaining with a clever plot that had me baffled until the very end. A second book in the series will be out in May.
2011 No 192
I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley. I'm grouping this latest Flavia de Luce mystery in the science and math category because one of the things we all love so much about Flavia is her knowledge of botany and chemistry and her skill at concocting things in her attic laboratory. This mystery also concerns itself with Shakespeare and especially Romeo and Juliet and takes place at Christmas. There is much to like in this story including the ending, which I did not anticipate.
2011 No 193
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