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Accidental death or murder? Is the difference worth your job or life?
Death by Dissertation by Kelly Brakenhoff is a fresh take on the cozy mystery genre. I truly enjoyed the college life, and the cultural and social differences brought to light along with the intriguing puzzle.
Dr. Cassandra Sato
Cassandra is such a different type of sleuth. She is the vice president of Student Affairs at Morton College in Nebraska. Cassandra recently moved there from Hawaii to her dream job. Although she isn’t alone as Meg, her friend of many years also works at Morton. Cassandra has had a cultural shock but seems to be figuring it out.
Likes
- Cassandra is almost always put together. She takes great pride in appearing as the administrator in charge.
- Integrity and putting the students first are the main thing that Cassandra thinks about.
- She doesn’t make friends easily, but she has strong friendships with those she does have.
- Cassandra loves her family but realizes that she needs to step out of their shadow to grow more
Things about the book that I liked:
- Cassandra’s character growth throughout the story is refreshing. It seems like most detectives come fully formed and don’t grow much.
- Meg and Connor’s family keep Cassandra going when things get tough.
- Showing the diversity of people in higher education and how it affects each of them.
- The appearance of the hearing impaired students and learning how they cope with life’s day to day struggles. I enjoyed that; it gave me something to think about.
- The recognition of the number of people with military backgrounds who assist Cassandra with her security issues was nicely done.
- The love triangle and the fact that Cassandra doesn’t even realize that there is one, yet.
- The snapshots of the college students and how they deal with college life, in general, was nicely written.
- The descriptions of Hawaii and the knowledge of the islands and the people. I enjoyed Cassandra’s family calls.
- The mystery was well planned, and I saw some of the clues, the aha moment was a surprise though.
4 Stars for Death by Dissertation by Kelly Brakenhoff
My rating for Death by Dissertation by Kelly Brakenhoff is four stars. I enjoyed the characters and the setting. The author’s attention to detail is superb. I liked the way the mystery brought out the growth of the characters and how things could go wrong with big money pharmaceutical companies, colleges, and student welfare.
This book is an excellent start to a new cozy mystery series, and I highly recommend this book.
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This review was originally posted on Baroness' Book Trove
