Sophie Belfort has captured the eccentric, neurotic, egotistical, over-the-top characteristics of the upper crust academic that those readers who have experienced similar institutions will recognize immediately. The characters are complex and well developed: flawed by their perfectionist traits yet oddly amiable and amusing. The clues are presented so naturally that the reader may overlook them. It is interesting to speculate not only on who the murderer might be, but also on the victim - there is any number of candidates that would fit the role. This is a clever, entertaining mystery set in the scholarly surroundings of Marvell College. ( )