As I recall, this was the first of Bagby's Inspector Schmidt series that I ever read, and I read the copy I now own, which belonged to the Bowling Green Public Library but was later discarded. The evil genius of the title is a rather unpleasant teenage prodigy who gets in over his head and gets shot. I think I was attracted by the realism of the description of the "genius" both in the awe with which he was regarded in his high school and the much less impressed attitude of those he interacted with in a special physics class for gifted students. I likewise had a mix of cleverness, arrogance, and being beyond my depth when young, though I was not so capable on a technical level (he could make a TV for his girlfriend) and hopefully not quite so arrogant, nasty or socially stupid -- I had my share of social stupidity, but at least I didn't get myself shot. ( )