Cold and Pure and Very Dead (The Karen Pelletier Mysteries)

by Joanne Dobson

Book Overview

The Agatha Award-Nominated Author of Quieter Than Sleep Professor Karen Pelletier has made a name for herself as one of the leading scholars of literature at exclusive Enfield College. But when an... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553580027
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.9" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

An obscure book leads to murder

While being interviewed by a NYT reporter Dr. Karen Pelletier states her opinion that the best book of the 20th century was an obscure book from the fifties, called Oblivion Falls. It was based on a true scandal in a college town. The author disappeared a few years later never to be heard from again. After the interview, sales of the book skyrocketed, and the reporter searched for Mildred Deakens, the author. He found her and ended up dead in her driveway. Millie was arrested, but claims to be innocent. Letters from her to Karen have been stolen, and there are rumors about her and a visiting writer.This is a very good addition to the series. All of the characters from the previous novels have been developed more fully and so has Karen's relationship with Lt. Piotrowski. I really loved this one and finished it in one sitting.

Good mystery, great characters

College Professor Karen Pelletier sets off a whirlwind when she nominates Obsession Falls, a 1950s sex novel, as book of the century. Before the excitement dies, a reporter tracking down the author is killed and the author accused. Karen doesn't believe the evidence and investigates. Could the mostly forgotten (until Karen reminds the world of its existance) semi-autobiographical novel bare secrets someone didn't want exposed?Author Joanne Dobson does an excellent job describing Karen's working environment: the strange relationship between faculty and departmental secretary, and the infighting and semi-friendships amongst professors jealous of one another's success. More importantly, she gives Karen a history--broken loves, a family to whom she cannot go back, a daughter now grown and moving out on her own, and all of the little fears that make a person fully human. Once she makes us love Karen, Dobson throws her into danger. How can we help our response? (Answer, we can't--just sit back and enjoy it).You may guess the killer fairly early but you'll want to stay with the novel to make sure Karen survives and to see how she uncovers the truth. Highly recommended.

Dobson should be more popular

The mix of academic world and mystery--with high-brow elements and down-to-earth humor--in her Karen Pelletier stories should be compelling more readers toward Joanne Dobson. I discovered these mysteries after searching for something with a central female character and experiencing great disappointment from some other, better-selling authors. This is one of Dobson's best!

Excellent academic mystery

In Western Massachusetts, Enfield College English professor Karen Pelletier knows that New York Times art reporter Martin Katz is bored with her. Katz, wanting to end the interview, provides a final throwaway question, what is the greatest twentieth century English novel. A facetious Karen replies the 1957 best-selling "Oblivion Falls" by Mildred Deakin. Not only is that novel mentioned in the paper, but soon Oprah discovers it too. "Oblivion Falls" becomes a best seller again.Not long afterward, Karen receives a visit from two New York State Police Officers. Apparently, someone killed Katz in the driveway of an elderly recluse, Millie Finch, in Nelson Corners. Millie once wrote under the nom de plume of Mildred Deakin. After finishing their grilling of Karen, the two cops leave and her old "sleuthing" buddy Massachusetts Statie Piotrowski arrives to make sure the professor butts out of the investigation. However, with the encouragement of her daughter, Karen joins the case as an unwanted voluntary literary investigator only to learn that the lurid subplots of "Bolivian Falls" really happened.The fourth Professor Pelletier mystery is an amusing, well-written amateur sleuth tale. The story line is fun as the courageous Karen investigates another homicide, but this time away from the college. Karen is a fabulous lead character and the remaining cast divides into three groups: academia, law enforcement, and literary. Each group augments the plot while providing insight into Karen's personality. Sub-genre fans will want to read Joanne Dobson's newest novel because it is simply very entertaining. Harriet Klausner

Cold and Pure and Very Good

This is the fourth "bibliomystery" featuring Karen Pelletier, an associate professor in English at Enfield College. In this mystery, OBLIVION FALLS, a best-selling book from the 1950s (loosely based on the novel PEYTON PLACE--remember how shocking *that* novel was??), is the catalyst for murder and mayhem when a reporter is murdered in the driveway of the reclusive author. Karen, intrepid amateur detective who, in her mind, is trained in literary research and is thus qualified to help the police solve this murder and another that follows.This was a good entry in the woman detective genre and I really liked it, especially the first half. The author, an associate English professor at Fordham University, is very witty and does well at exposing the pretentiousness (is that a word??) and politics that are intrinsic to many academic settings. Some of her lines are hilarious especially when some of Karen's windbag colleagues get self-important and verbose. Unfortunately, the second half got a little long and I find it annoying when homicide detectives actually use the amateur's help in solving the mystery. This seems to be a frequent occurrence in these kinds of mysteries. But I'm nit-picking. I did enjoy the author's writing style and will probably go back and read the previous titles in this series, especially THE RAVEN AND THE NIGHTINGALE, with Edgar Allen Poe's works as part of the mystery.