Tropic of Murder: A Nick Hoffman Mystery (Nick Hoffman Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Trouble Comes Back
Review: "Mysteries wrap things up too much," a character states to Nick Hoffman, the professor turned detective in "Tropic of Murder," the sixth novel in the series by Lev Raphael. Hoffman would have found that ironic, since the loose ends of his life haven't been tied up for several books.

After run-ins with murderous students, professors and administrators at the State University of Michigan, Hoffman finds himself moving from the world of Ph.Ds to PIs as a way to escape the snakepit of academic politics with its internecine backstabbing and hypocrisies. A change of chairmanships and the prospect of introducing a Whiteness Studies program encourages Hoffman and his partner, Stefan, to escape over the Spring break at a Club Med resort in the Caribbean.

Alas, rest and relaxation turns out to be illusionary. Hoffman hoped to flee a potential client, a graduate student whose politically powerful in-laws may be behind some hate crimes at SUM. But tropical breezes, good food and pampered attention from the Club Med employees is spoiled when Nick finds that no matter how far you run, trouble will follow.

Raphael is an atypical mystery writer. His interests are wide-ranging, with a shelf of literary short stories, non-fiction (including a book on Edith Wharton) and even self-help books to his credit. His recent novel, "The German Money," drew on his family's experiences during and after the Holocaust, and themes from his oeuvre show up in his mysteries as well.

"Tropic of Murder" is a series whose full flavor is released by starting with an earlier book that sets the latest plot threads in motion. I recommend No. 5's "Burning Down the House," which launches the latest chain of events at SUM, but even better would be to start with "Let's Get Criminal," when Hoffman was young, happy, in love, and innocent of the bloody fate in store, and you can take a full measure of pleasure in the loopy events at SUM in its tawdry glory.

Rating:
Summary: Another first-rate work
Review: The Nick Hoffman series is a literary mystery reader's dream: witty dialogue, pungent description, above-board plotting (that is, no cheating on the reader), and two leads with intelligence, insight, and affection. In fact, the relationship of the two is one of the series' best attributes: a mystery in which the romantic protagonists are *convincingly* comfortable (and as entertaining to us as they are to themselves) is surprisingly rare in the mystery world.

I want to add one thing to the plot descriptions in the other reviews:
In this supposed Paradise, Raphael can tell us precisely where a VacationLand's staff-worker is positioned in its hierarchy. He does it with rare wit: sometimes he can corner a character in four words. (The enviable gift of laconic description served Raphael's academic satires* well, and it really blazes forth in "The German Money", where volumes of meaning are encoded, sometimes trapped, in the filial protagonists' relationships.)

Like those actors who can speak volumes with a raised eyebrow, Raphael has a knack for making a paragraph say two pages' worth. Few writers twice as famous can do half as much. Tropic of Murder, like the other Nick Hoffman books and unlike most mystery novels, can be REread with pleasure.

*I worked across the street from Princeton University for 12 years; and God, do I know these people.


Rating:
Summary: A New Setting for Nick
Review: As usual, things are in an uproar in Nick Hoffman's St. Univ. of Michigan department. The provost, Merry Ginka, appoints the least likely candidate chairman of the department, bypassing the usual election process. Peter deJonge, a graduate student, has asked Nick to do some "detecting" for him. Nick is thinking about that and he's thinking about whether or not he might be bisexual, as he keeps finding himself susceptible to the attractions of Juno, a flamboyant professor in his department.
Stefen, Nick's pardner, had been planning for them to have a tropical vacation for spring break in March, but decides they need one now and off they go to a Club Med on Serenity, a fictional Carribbean island.
One of the first people to approach Nick on the beach is deJong, the graduate student. He'd learned from Stefan where they were going and had brought his problem with him. Oh, and there are intrigues among the Club Med staff and one of the fellow guests is a hot new writer that Stefen hates and probably envies. There are other colorful characters and eventually a murder.
This, as with the last couple of these Nick Hoffman mysteries, is not a typical murder mystery. It breaks most of the traditions of the genre, the major crime occurs far into the story, the perpetrator is often a surprise and the reader is seldom given enough clues to figure it out for him or herself.
But the book is a stimulating read, very erudite. I usually have an English and a French dictionary hardy. The quotes sprinkled throughout are thought provoking. And a good deal of it is funny, the kind of sauciness that makes me chuckle outloud, all by myself. I recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Continuing a good series
Review: I was getting sort of tired of the awful academic infighting and backbiting (backstabbing?) at the University so really enjoyed the change of scene. The descriptions of the food are so mouthwatering they make you hungry,,,and thank God he has played down Nick's weird interest in that blowsy Juno!! A good read.

Rating:
Summary: another fun, fabulous read
Review: In Lev Raphael's latest in the Nick Hoffman series, the author takes the reader on a journey to a tropic locale. In this setting, Nick and his partner Stefan find themselves searching for answers surrounding increasingly mysterious circumstances.

Raphael's book is so much more than a mere mystery. The typical novel in this genre paints a portrait that is often predictably dull, with a two-dimensional main character that solves some horrid murder and saves the day. But Nick Hoffman is not the typical, banal, cardboard cut-out hero. He is a three-dimensional, complex character, a person with strengths as well as weaknesses. It is impossible not to relate to Nick as he sorts through conflicted emotions, as he works through anger, as he confronts life and death issues, as he lives his life with all of its twists and turns.

Raphael's writing is intelligent, witty, compelling and so darn good that I felt as if I were standing right next to Nick, watching the colorful Club Med guests, tasting various delicacies at the buffet, or holding my breath as a body floats in the pool. Raphael has an uncanny gift for making his readers see, hear, smell, taste and feel all that the main character is experiencing. The words paint a picture so vivid, it is impossible not to get swept away. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am eagerly awaiting Nick's next adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Good mystery, but I found the pacing to be distracting
Review: In this sixth of the "Nick Hoffman" mystery series, the author begins by updating the situation at the State University of Michigan (SUM) where both Nick and his partner Stefan currently teach. From this and his previous works in the series, it's obvious that Lev Raphael (whose bio calls him an "escaped academic") has significant "issues" with the politics and bickering found in small educational institutions, and it does occasionally distract from his stories, if not related directly to the college atmosphere and characters. That is the case here, where he devotes more than the first third of the book just establishing that things were tense, and Nick and Stefan felt the need to "get away" for a while.

In the second part of the book, Nick and Stefan take off for a quiet (they hoped) vacation at a Club Med resort on a small Caribbean island, which it coincidentally turns out was previously owned by the family that runs a small private college in Michigan. They are surprised to see a colleague/grad student from SUM, but it becomes revealed that he had suggested the place to Stefan, hoping that he could convince Nick to do some amateur investigating for him. This takes a back seat to their attempt to enjoy their vacation, which inevitably is interrupted by the untimely and mysterious death of one of the club employees. Since they were the ones who found the body, Nick and Stefan ask around to see if anyone noticed anything suspicious. The mystery is solved quite abruptly, with little buildup, and most of the details are told as flashbacks when the author spends the last ten pages of the book having Nick, now back in Michigan, tell his sister Sharon (the recent victim of a stroke, living in NYC) about their trip, and some tentative plans if the situation at SUM doesn't improve (I can only guess this part of the book is meant to "set up" the next book in the series.)

I have been a fan of this series of books since its start, but was a bit disappointed in this one. I found the pacing of the story to be rather disjointed and distracting. In a book weighing it at just 208 pages, the first 70 are taken up by the bureaucratic doings at SUM, before the duo leaves. The murder comes in at page 144, with the "who done it" revealed just 50 pages later, followed by the ten pages of chatter with sister Sharon. With likeable characters and a basic good, unpredictable amd credible plot, I believe this would have been a lot better if the extraneous stuff was cut back, and the mystery revealed not so quickly. I don't know if that has anything to do with the book being the first of the series to go directly to paperback (rather than following a hardcover release), but it definitely feels that Raphael may be tiring of the characters. This had the potential to be a 5-star, but best I can do is give it a (generous) 4 out of 5 for now.

Rating:
Summary: He's done it again!
Review: Lev Raphael has done it again! His latest Nick Hoffman mystery, number six in the series, is witty, insightful and touching. This time Nick and his partner Stefan try to escape the tribulations and absurdities of petty academic politics for a Caribbean paradise - which turns out to have intrigues of its own. Raphael moves deftly from the academic scene of his previous novels to a luxurious Club Med setting, where murder soon complicates the idyllic escape.

Raphael has a sharp eye and ear. Nick and Stefan come to life in their witty repartee and keen observations of guests and staff in this lush paradise. This novel also has a bittersweet, touching quality that makes one ponder the greater issues of life. This series gets better and better. Bravo!

Rudite and David Robinson

Rating:
Summary: Nick Hoffman at Club Med
Review: The story flowes very fast without a confusion of suspects and misleading red herrings. A relief also not to have the main characters, Nick and Stefan unduly harrased as the primary criminal suspects. The story and characters are very easy to relate to with great references to contempory people and events. An excellent book.