Murder by Mascot

by Mary Vermillion

Book Overview

Dave DeVoster, University of Iowa star hoopster, is found dead beneath a statue of Iowa's mascot, his blood dripping from Herky-the-Hawkeye's curved beak. Arrested for the murder is the director of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1555839169
• ISBN13: 9781555839161
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Alyson Books
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Social commentary, lesbian frustrations and a murder, all in the same book

In this sequel to "Death by Discount", Mara Gilgannon, radio personality, lesbian with a long-term relationship problem and sometime sleuth returns and solves another murder. This time the murder occurs in Iowa City, Iowa when Dave DeVoster, a star basketball player for the University of Iowa men's team and near certain NBA player is found dead. His blood is dripping from a statue of Herky the Hawk, the fierce-looking mascot for the University athletic teams. In a point of irony, his blood is dripping from the beak of the statue, so the killer somehow used the statue as the instrument of death. This helps eliminate many suspects, as obviously the assailant had to be strong enough to push Dave into the statue. The investigation into the murder is somewhat compromised by the fact that DeVoster is a known rapist, having plea-bargained his way into a soft deal after date-raping a member of the girl's basketball team. This has split the community into groups that want DeVoster to be free to play ball and those who think he should face a far more severe punishment. There are demonstrations that are led by radical feminists who overstate their arguments to the point of absurdity, which further poisons the case. When one of Gilgannon's ex's is arrested for the crime, she goes into full investigative mode with her roommate Vince, a gay man who plays the part well. Although she is fairly good at detecting, Gilgannon is largely a failure at most of the rest of her life. She splits with the female cop she started dating in the first book, runs her battery down when investigating, crashes her car into another vehicle, has difficulty paying the bills and has boss troubles. Nevertheless, she manages to solve the murder by engaging in a confrontation with the killer where she has locked herself inside a toilet stall and threatens to flush the killer's driver's license and credit cards down the toilet. I must admit that the thought that this would be the plot device used to stave off a killer would never have occurred to me. Original and slightly comedic As someone who has spent my entire life in Iowa and attended the University of Iowa, I understood all the references to Herky, the basketball tradition and the city of Iowa City. However, readers without this knowledge will no doubt find themselves occasionally confused. One plot device that intrigued me was when the group of lesbian women attended a girl's basketball game and talked about the gay/straight orientations of the players. I couldn't help wondering, "Is this truly the way lesbian women approach these things or is it just an unusual plot device?" Since the author teaches English at Mount Mercy College, where I teach math and computers, I have the opportunity to resolve the question. However, since I have yet to ask her to explain the reference to "lesbians and U-Hauls" in her first book, I may never know. With no punch-em-out action and a lot of inter-lesbian intrigue, this was not a book that k

U of I Women's Basketball

Vermillion writes about Iowa, which isn't commonplace in novels. Rape...disgusting. Murder of the rapist...should we care who did it. Of course, we should when the suspect is Mara's ex. Enter Mara Gilgannon. This story is funny and serious all in one. Mara has a way of getting information, but is sometimes a little slow on the draw. This causes mayhem with her life and with the case at hand. I read Vermillion's first book and am looking forward to other. Visit Iowa with Mary Vermillion.

Another Terrific Mara Gilgannon Mystery

Murder by Mascot, the second Mara Gilgannon mystery, is every bit as good as the first, Death by Discount. Author Mary Vermillion has a wonderful talent for wrapping socially relevant topics in a page-turning story full of believable characters and vivid settings. Main character Mara is an appealing and convincing blend of determination, pluck, self-doubt, and wry humor. I'm a rabid college basketball fan myself, a graduate of the University of Kansas, where basketball is more of a religion than a sport, and Vermillion has nailed the university basketball atmosphere perfectly. This is a well-written, well-plotted mystery that's hard to put down.