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    A Knife in the Back: A Case for Professor Sally Good
    Murder is an Art: A Mystery
    Ebook series2 titles

    Professor Sally Good Mysteries Series

    By Bill Crider

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this series

    Sally's husband has been dead for eight years; his remote ancestor, the witch Sarah Good, died on the scaffold in Salem more than four hundred years ago. Yet the president of Sally's college is afraid the story will reflect on the institution.

    Sally is annoyed. Sarah Good wasn't her ancestor; she was the forbear of Sally's dead husband. That the president of a college should be concerned that one of his faculty might be thought the descendant of a woman who was hanged as a witch four hundred years ago seems ludicrous to her.

    In one way, the president has reason to be concerned. Their town is in a very conservative part of Texas---a considerable number of citizens are trying to get the Harry Potter books removed from the library. Now a bond issue for the college is coming up, and nothing is more important to the president than to get it approved.

    Returning to her office, Sally learns from her boyfriend that "the Garden Gnome" has been murdered. The Garden Gnome (so-called because he looks like one) was consistently honored by the students, who gave him the worst evaluations any faculty member had ever received, and Sally was eventually effective in securing his departure. Nor does it help her that he was one of the staunchest opponents of the bond issue. With the aid of the Internet, most of the local population have convinced themselves that Mrs. Sally Good and "Witch" Sarah Good are practically one and the same---maybe Sally is a reincarnation of "her" ancestor. And you know what witches can do.

    With the help of her lover, Jack, and some complications thrown up by a covey of wiccans ("No, no, it's a religion. We are not witches"), Sally may avoid being hanged, but it certainly looks like she is in real trouble.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMay 27, 2013
    A Knife in the Back: A Case for Professor Sally Good
    Murder is an Art: A Mystery

    Titles in the series (2)

    • 1

      Murder is an Art: A Mystery
      Murder is an Art: A Mystery

      Murder is an Art: A Mystery

      Bill Crider
      3/5 - 1 rating
      3/5 - 1 rating

      Dr. Sally Good, head of the English and Fine Arts Division of the Hughes Community College in Texas, has her hands full. On top of dealing with the numerous complaints from testy faculty members concerning the allocation of the department's budget, she must also conduct an inquiry into the recent misbehavior of the department's philandering art professor, Val Hurley, who stands accused of molesting a young female student. And then there is the complaint lodged against the art department--and namely Val--for displaying what some people see as a satanic painting. When Val is found bludgeoned to death in his office and the painting in question disappears, it isn't long before the department dissolves into a state of chaos and hysteria. Sally begins to realize that she might be in over her head when the student in question is found murdered shortly thereafter. The police aren't getting very far with their investigation: Their only tenuous suspect is the victim's husband, who has disappeared. When Sally decides that her insider's knowledge of the department gives her a unique insight into the identity of the murderer, her decision could prove fatal. With a little sleuthing, Sally, aided by attractive fellow professor Jack Neville, uncovers a lot more than she bargained for.

      Dr. Sally Good, head of the English and Fine Arts Division of the Hughes Community College in Texas, has her hands full. On top of dealing with the numerous complaints from testy faculty members concerning the allocation of the department's budget, she must also conduct an inquiry into the recent misbehavior of the department's philandering art professor, Val Hurley, who stands accused of molesting a young female student. And then there is the complaint lodged against the art department--and namely Val--for displaying what some people see as a satanic painting. When Val is found bludgeoned to death in his office and the painting in question disappears, it isn't long before the department dissolves into a state of chaos and hysteria. Sally begins to realize that she might be in over her head when the student in question is found murdered shortly thereafter. The police aren't getting very far with their investigation: Their only tenuous suspect is the victim's husband, who has disappeared. When Sally decides that her insider's knowledge of the department gives her a unique insight into the identity of the murderer, her decision could prove fatal. With a little sleuthing, Sally, aided by attractive fellow professor Jack Neville, uncovers a lot more than she bargained for.

    • 2

      A Knife in the Back: A Case for Professor Sally Good
      A Knife in the Back: A Case for Professor Sally Good

      A Knife in the Back: A Case for Professor Sally Good

      Bill Crider
      4/5 - 1 rating
      4/5 - 1 rating

      Dr. Sally Good, chair of the Department of English at Hughes Community College has learned how to cope with the many minor disasters and a couple of major ones, including a murder, that have cropped up since her tenure. Right now, however, her only worry is about her own behavior. She's just violated one of the major rules for department chairs - never date the staff. She hadn't actually dated Jack Neville, but she had said yes when he asked her to go out with him. It's beginning to look as though Sally may not have to worry about that. Her intended escort has come under suspicion of murdering one of the college trustees, and could be arrested any time now. The good news is that the evidence is shaky and Neville is far from the only person around who wouldn't mind seeing Bostic's obit in the county paper. The man is a used-car salesman of questionable morals and an antediluvian who is against educating or even feeding the men in the local prison, where the college conducts classes. The sheriff is the bad news. Sally and Jack have tangled with in Murder Is an Art, and he can be depended upon to go for the obvious, though questionable, solution, based on the discovery of Jack's handmade knife at the scene. Sally feels the responsibility: it is up to her to plunge once more into investigation. The search becomes a true comedy of errors, some furnished by Neville himself, who is thoroughly nice but somewhat of an airhead (the modern phrase for "absent-minded professor"). The really bright ideas and solid detection is furnished by the charming Sally, and author Crider happily provides the dry humor that so charms his readers both in his accounts of Dr. Good's adventures and those of his Sheriff Dan Rhodes.

      Dr. Sally Good, chair of the Department of English at Hughes Community College has learned how to cope with the many minor disasters and a couple of major ones, including a murder, that have cropped up since her tenure. Right now, however, her only worry is about her own behavior. She's just violated one of the major rules for department chairs - never date the staff. She hadn't actually dated Jack Neville, but she had said yes when he asked her to go out with him. It's beginning to look as though Sally may not have to worry about that. Her intended escort has come under suspicion of murdering one of the college trustees, and could be arrested any time now. The good news is that the evidence is shaky and Neville is far from the only person around who wouldn't mind seeing Bostic's obit in the county paper. The man is a used-car salesman of questionable morals and an antediluvian who is against educating or even feeding the men in the local prison, where the college conducts classes. The sheriff is the bad news. Sally and Jack have tangled with in Murder Is an Art, and he can be depended upon to go for the obvious, though questionable, solution, based on the discovery of Jack's handmade knife at the scene. Sally feels the responsibility: it is up to her to plunge once more into investigation. The search becomes a true comedy of errors, some furnished by Neville himself, who is thoroughly nice but somewhat of an airhead (the modern phrase for "absent-minded professor"). The really bright ideas and solid detection is furnished by the charming Sally, and author Crider happily provides the dry humor that so charms his readers both in his accounts of Dr. Good's adventures and those of his Sheriff Dan Rhodes.

    Author

    Bill Crider

    Bill Crider was the winner of two Anthony Awards and an Edgar Award finalist. An English college professor for many years, he published more than seventy-five mystery, crime, Western, horror, and children’s novels, including standalone novels and several series (Sheriff Dan Rhodes, Professor Carl Burns, Professor Sally Good, PI Truman Smith, weatherman Stanley Waters, and teenager Mike Gonzo). In 2010, he was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.

    Read more from Bill Crider

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