DEATH BY DEGREES (Inspector Charlie Salter Novel) - Hardcover

Canadian police inspector Charlie Salter's dad is hospitalized after suffering a stroke, and suddenly Salter is brooding about his relationship with the old man. To take his mind off the unwelcome welter of feelings, Salter attempts to concentrate on the murder of a college professor. Not buying the notion that a burglar did it, Salter believes the professor's recent bid to become dean of his college might have figured in the attack. The more Salter probes academia, the more he finds that jealousy, infidelity, and blackmail have taken seats in the lecture hall. Salter is a decent, mild-mannered sort of fellow, and his latest adventure is a decent, mild-mannered sort of crime story--without violence or bloodshed and, frankly, with precious little excitement. Salter plods along from one clue to the next, pulling and worrying at the mystery until it finally unravels, and that's about as much action as there is. Still, Salter has an established audience of readers who enjoy watching their hero meander his way through the rigors of police work. Mystery fans new to the series, though, should start with one of the earlier books. Emily Melton

Here, in an outing reminiscent of Final Cut (1991), Toronto Inspector Charlie Salter's personal life is more absorbing than his caseload--which now includes the murder of moderately unlikable Maurice Lyall, a teacher at Bathurst Community College, and the alibis of various of Lyall's colleagues on the Search Committee that had just nominated him for Dean of Related Studies. But the case keeps Charlie distracted from his major worry: the progress, or lack of it, that his father is making since suffering a stroke. Days spent listening to academic backbiting and nights spent in a hospital waiting room, peeking in on his dad between stints of writing up a case-in-progress journal, keep Charlie on edge, but a bit of luck narrows the suspect list--just as Charlie's father's health rebounds. Minimalist plot, and few will care about the faculty and its infighting. As a father-son study, however, there's much to recommend in Charlie's guilt over not liking his dad, and his sensitive son Seth's love and liking of both his father and grandfather. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.