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Rating: 
Summary: a Killing Spring
Review: A Killing Spring is one in a series featuring Joanne Kilbourn, a Canadian college professor, as the amateur sleuth. There is a nice density to these mysteries: the reader is always aware of Joanne's full life--we see her with her children, her friends, as a political woman (her deceased husband was in politics), as well as with students in and out of the classroom. The mystery itself is good and Joanne's investigation of it quite believable--only at the end does she become improbably active. Gail Bowen is a good writer, and the depth of the mystery and Joanne's life gives the book a rich quality; the final scene is lovely. Joanne does have a romantic relationship with a policeman (as do many female amateur detectives). The policeman is a Native Canadian, and the two must deal with prejudice in this book. Joanne feels she has never before experienced prejudice, an astonishing belief, I thought, for a liberal woman. I highly recommend this mystery.
Rating:
Summary: a Killing Spring
Review: A Killing Spring is one in a series featuring Joanne Kilbourn, a Canadian college professor, as the amateur sleuth. There is a nice density to these mysteries: the reader is always aware of Joanne's full life--we see her with her children, her friends, as a political woman (her deceased husband was in politics), as well as with students in and out of the classroom. The mystery itself is good and Joanne's investigation of it quite believable--only at the end does she become improbably active. Gail Bowen is a good writer, and the depth of the mystery and Joanne's life gives the book a rich quality; the final scene is lovely. Joanne does have a romantic relationship with a policeman (as do many female amateur detectives). The policeman is a Native Canadian, and the two must deal with prejudice in this book. Joanne feels she has never before experienced prejudice, an astonishing belief, I thought, for a liberal woman. I highly recommend this mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a very literate mystery, well written & well plotted
Review: I'm very happy to have discovered this Canadian mystery writer. This mystery is part of a series set in Regina, Saskatchewan. Bowen's "detective" is Joanne Kilbourn, a middle-aged widow who is a political science professor at the Univerity of Regina, and who is raising four children (two at home, two grown). Joanne has an on-again, off-again Ojibway police-detective boyfriend. In the course of the mysteries, you also follow the lives of these characters and their relationships. The plot involves several strands that more or less come together in the end. THe first involves a very unattractive young student who complains that she is being sexually harassed by a popular good-looking student. The second strand involves a professor who has apparently met an accidental death as the result of some perverse activities. The third strand involves vandalism in the university. The fourth strand involves JOanne's best friend's boyfriend -- a complete jerk. Bowen is an English professor and not surprisingly, she writes with great skill: her mysteries have depth, her characters are vivid, and the plots are well-constructed. She describes people and places so well that I can imagine myself in the setting and talking to her characters. All in all, there's plenty to keep the reader interested and turning the pages, and it all comes together satisfactorily in the end. For the reader who likes thoughtful, well-written mysteries (in the manner of Elizabeth George or Deborah Crombie), I highly recommend Gail Bowen in general and this mystery in particular.
Rating:
Summary: This is a very literate mystery, well written & well plotted
Review: I'm very happy to have discovered this Canadian mystery writer. This mystery is part of a series set in Regina, Saskatchewan. Bowen's "detective" is Joanne Kilbourn, a middle-aged widow who is a political science professor at the Univerity of Regina, and who is raising four children (two at home, two grown). Joanne has an on-again, off-again Ojibway police-detective boyfriend. In the course of the mysteries, you also follow the lives of these characters and their relationships. The plot involves several strands that more or less come together in the end. THe first involves a very unattractive young student who complains that she is being sexually harassed by a popular good-looking student. The second strand involves a professor who has apparently met an accidental death as the result of some perverse activities. The third strand involves vandalism in the university. The fourth strand involves JOanne's best friend's boyfriend -- a complete jerk. Bowen is an English professor and not surprisingly, she writes with great skill: her mysteries have depth, her characters are vivid, and the plots are well-constructed. She describes people and places so well that I can imagine myself in the setting and talking to her characters. All in all, there's plenty to keep the reader interested and turning the pages, and it all comes together satisfactorily in the end. For the reader who likes thoughtful, well-written mysteries (in the manner of Elizabeth George or Deborah Crombie), I highly recommend Gail Bowen in general and this mystery in particular.
Rating:
Summary: Canadian professor/sleuth in gripping tale
Review: What a joy for a reader to discover a new author! A KILLING SPRING is the third Gail Bowen book I've read (one after the other after "finding" her) and she gets better and better. In too many mystery series, the protagonist stays the same age, everything around her is unchanging and, after reading a slew in a series, the reader discovers that about two months have elapsed. Not so with Joanne Kilbourn, political science professor in a Canadian college and amateur detective. Not only does Kilbourn grow - time goes by - her kids age - neighbors and friends change and develop. Combine all of the above with masterful story-telling skills and you have mystery writing at its best.
Rating:
Summary: Canadian professor/sleuth in gripping tale
Review: What a joy for a reader to discover a new author! A KILLING SPRING is the third Gail Bowen book I've read (one after the other after "finding" her) and she gets better and better. In too many mystery series, the protagonist stays the same age, everything around her is unchanging and, after reading a slew in a series, the reader discovers that about two months have elapsed. Not so with Joanne Kilbourn, political science professor in a Canadian college and amateur detective. Not only does Kilbourn grow - time goes by - her kids age - neighbors and friends change and develop. Combine all of the above with masterful story-telling skills and you have mystery writing at its best.
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