Books › Parting Breath
Parting Breath
First published 1977 · 277 pages
A classic English police procedural where methodical deduction meets the hidden secrets of the ivory tower.
What it feels like
Step into the ivied halls of a traditional English university, where the quiet sanctuary of academia is shattered by sudden death. This classic police procedural unfolds at a steady, methodical pace, inviting the reader to piece together clues alongside a seasoned detective. The mood is steeped in collegiate atmosphere, balancing the quaint charm of madrigal singers and historic quadrangles with the underlying tension of institutional secrets and student unrest. Written with an observant and traditional prose style, the narrative offers the satisfying intellectual puzzle of a classic mystery. It is a perfect match for readers who delight in unraveling hidden motives within closed communities, offering a comforting yet intriguing journey from a shocking discovery to a neatly deduced conclusion.
- Mood
- academic
- intrigue-laden
- classic
- Tone
- observant
- traditional
- methodical
- wry
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- institutional secrets · methodical deduction · disrupted tradition
- The writing
- Classic and observant, leaning into the atmospheric details of traditional English academia.
- The arc
- Moves from the initial shock of a disrupted academic sanctuary to the satisfying resolution of a methodical investigation.
- Who it's for
- Fans of classic British police procedurals who love a methodical detective unraveling secrets in a closed academic setting.
Content notes
- murder
About the book
Murder in the Quadrangle The college dons at the University of Calleshire fully expected trouble when the students planned to shake their ivory tower with a sit-in at Almstone Hall. But no one expected the very peculiar theft from a dormitory room...or the very dead body in the college quadrangle. For Detective Inspector C.D. Sloan, the ivied halls hid a host of clues - from the words whispered with the dying man's parting breath to what a madrigal singer saw. So it was only a matter of time until he uncovered the murderer hidden in the groves o academe...but could he do it before death became another victim's alma mater?
Description from Open Library.
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