Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Guest Blogger, Margot Kinberg

Please join me in welcoming author Margot Kinberg as the special guest blogger here today at Thoughts in Progress.

Margot is not only a talented author, but a fellow blogger. Her blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist...., is always informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking. If you haven’t stop by, be sure to do so. You’ll enjoy the visit and make it a regular stop.

Margot latest release is B VERT FLAT. Since her protagonist has a connect to campus life, she joins us today to discuss campuses and murder.

Thanks so much, Mason, for hosting me! I’m excited to be here. I’m blogging today about campuses partly because I love college campuses. Very often, they’re worlds unto themselves. Even in towns that are known as “college towns,” where the life of the town seems to revolve around the campus, the campus itself is still what you might call a world apart. In a way, that makes a lot of sense.

After all, colleges and universities are unique social communities. They have their own social structure and hierarchy, many have their own places to eat and shop, and very often, they have their own security/police. Many college and university campuses are also home to a rich diversity of people with all sorts of histories, and all sorts of personal issues, and all sorts of different personalities. Many campuses are beautiful places with lots of history. Even newer campuses are often beautiful, and there’s often a sort of mystique about a college campus. With all of that beauty and mystique, history and groups of disparate people, it’s no wonder that the college campus is the setting for so much crime fiction. That’s part of the reason I’ve chosen the college campus as the setting for my Joel Williams mysteries. I’m in good company, too.

Lots of famous college campuses have become, you might say, characters in crime fiction novels. One of the most famous is the U.K.’s Oxford University, which poet Mathew Arnold referred to as “dreaming spires.” That beautiful campus features heavily in Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse novels. Morse visits campus frequently and gets to know several of the dons and other campus faculty and staff members, as well as several students. What’s particularly interesting about the Morse novels is that they contrast the world of the campus with the world of the surrounding town of Oxford. Traditionally, there’s a disconnect, sometimes even an animosity, between people who live and work on campus and people who live and work in the town. That “town/gown” conflict is a part of many of the Morse novels, especially when he looks into the private lives of the some of the university people he investigates.

Oxford is also the setting for many of Veronica Stallwood’s Kate Ivory mysteries. Kate is a very popular historical novelist who lives and works in Oxford. Since she’s an amateur sleuth, she isn’t assigned to investigate crimes. Rather, she’s drawn into them through her relationships with victims, suspects, etc. For instance, in Oxford Exit, Kate’s friend and former lover, Andrew Grove, is on the security committee for the Bodleian Library. He’s concerned about a series of thefts from the library, and thinks that a computer hacker has been tampering with the records to cover up a series of thefts of rare materials. Andrew offers Kate the job of tracking the thief, and she agrees, since the fee will help her make ends meet while she finishes her current manuscript. As Kate’s working to solve the riddle of the thefts, she finds that the disturbed writing of a student in her friend Emma’s writing class begins to mirror Kate’s search for the truth about the thefts. More than that, the writing suggests a connection between these thefts and the unexplained death of a librarian a year earlier. In this novel, we get a real feel for Oxford’s famous Bodleian Library.

We also get a look at Oxford’s campuses and traditions in Dorothy Sayers’ Gaudy Night, in which Harriet Vane, an alumna of Shrewsbury College, Oxford, returns to her alma mater for its Gaudy Dinner and festivities. A few months later, she receives a letter from the Warden of Shrewsbury, asking her to investigate a series of disturbing events at the college. Vane’s reluctant to do so, but eventually agrees and goes back to Shrewsbury, using the “cover” of doing research for a book. While she’s there, she and (later) Lord Peter Wimsey, find out who’s behind some threatening anonymous letters, vandalism, and other frightening occurrences.

Pamela Thomas-Graham’s Ivy League series highlights some of the U.S.’s more famous college campuses. In A Darker Shade of Crimson, Harvard economics professor Nikki Chase discovers the murderer of her friend, Rosezella “Ella” Maynette Fisher, Harvard’s new Dean of Students. In this novel, we get a sense of the Harvard campus, and certainly of Harvard history. The same thing happens in Blue Blood, in which Chase investigates murder at Yale University. In that novel, Gary Fox, a Yale Dean and a friend of Chase’s, calls her in a panic when his wife, Amanda, is found brutally stabbed in the streets of New Haven. Because of his recent (and public) disputes with his wife, Fox himself becomes a suspect in her murder, and Chase resolves to clear his name. Here,
we not only get a sense of the beautiful Yale campus, but also of the “town/gown” relationship with New Haven itself. And then there’s Orange Crushed, in which Chase visits Princeton University to attend a conference and to visit her brother, Erik. While she’s there, she also visits her mentor, Professor Earl Stokes, who’s head of the African-American Studies Department. Stokes has all but decided to accept a very attractive offer from Harvard, but has decided to stay at Princeton until the department’s new building has been completed. One night, the new building goes up in flames and Stokes himself is killed. When Chase finds out what’s happened, she resolves to discover who killed her mentor and destroyed the new building.

In Yrsa Sigurðardóttir’s Last Rituals, we get a sense of the campus of the University of Iceland in Reykjavík. That’s the story of the death of Harald Guntlieb, a young German who was studying history, in particular, witchcraft and mysticism. One day, Trygvvi, who’s the head caretaker at the university, finds Gunnar Gestvik, head of the history department, in a desperate and frantic state. It seems that Gunnar opened the door to the building’s printer alcove, only to have Guntlieb’s brutally-murdered body fall on him. Immediately, the police are called, and before long, Guntlieb’s former friend is in custody for his murder, but Guntlieb’s family doesn’t believe he’s guilty. They contact attorney Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, asking her to investigate the case. To assist Thóra in her search for the truth, the Guntlieb family also sends their own representative, Matthew Reich. Together, the two of them begin to search for answers. Along the way, we get an “inside look” at the university campus. We get a perspective on how the students live, how the faculty members interact with students and staff and, of course, on the campus itself.

University and college campuses have changed quite a lot in the last decades. That’s what makes it also interesting to get a look at campuses from earlier times. One of the most eventful eras on campuses was the era of student activism during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. We get a sense of that in John Alexander Graham’s The Involvement of Arnold Weschler. That’s the story of Hewes College Classics professor Arnold Weschler. One day, he’s called mysteriously into the office of college president Wintrhop Dohrn. Dohrn’s concerned about a radical student group that’s been protesting and creating unrest on campus. He believes that Weschler’s estranged brother, David, is one of the leaders of the group, and wants Weschler to intervene with his brother and get the group to stop its activities. Weschler’s reluctant, but agrees for the sake of his career. He contacts his brother and slowly gets to know the student group. Then, Dohrn’s grand-daughter is kidnapped. Next, a bomb goes off at the president’s home, destroying it and killing the president. Someone in the student group has gone too far, and Weschler takes on the task of finding out who’s responsible for these tragedies. In this novel, we get to see much of the Hewes College campus, and we get a look at the interactions among the various groups on campus (faculty, administrators, etc...). Admittedly, it’s a look from a by-gone time, but it’s an interesting historical “snapshot.”

My own Joel Williams novels are set on the campus of fictional Tilton University in rural Pennsylvania. I chose a small college town and campus as the setting for these novels because campuses are often beautiful, outwardly peaceful, and often full of secrets. Little wonder they make such an effective setting for a mystery!! Do you like campuses as much as I do? Which “campus mysteries” have you enjoyed?

Thanks again, Mason, for your hospitality!

Margot, thanks to you for guest blogging here today. Usually when one thinks of campus life, students learning and having a good time comes to mind. You’ve given us a different outlook and how deadly campus life can be.

Here’s the synopsis of the B VERY FLAT:
Is anyone really safe? Not necessarily. At nineteen years old, Serena Brinkman, an undergraduate violin major at Tilton University, seems to have a very secure future; she's got good looks, money, people who love her, and rare musical talent. She's also got a coveted Amati violin, a musical rival, friends whose secrets she knows, and an obsessed fan.

Serena's dreams are shattered when she suddenly dies on the night of a major music competition. Serena's partner, sure that her death was not an accident, asks for help from Dr. Joel Williams of Tilton's Department of Criminal Justice.

Williams, a former detective, becomes convinced that Serena was murdered, when he learns how unsafe her world really was. As he works with the Tilton Police Department to uncover the truth, Williams finds that Serena's looks, money, and talent, far from securing her future, made her a target


43 comments:

  1. Many thanks, Mason, for hosting me : ). I'm honored and excited to be here.

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  2. Margot,

    I liked your info on College Campuses. You're right, they are a world into themselves and I can see where they would be a good setting for a mystery/suspense.

    Like the Blurb on your book. :-)

    Thanks Mason for an interesting author.

    BTW, I've passed on to you the Meat and Potatoes Blog Award on today's blog. "This prestigious award goes to a particular group of wise and experienced bloggers who have proven themselves over the course of time, trials, and tribulations."

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  3. We would like to open up an invitation for guest bloggers to submit their own blog posts to be published here onhttp://sanjal.co.uk/blog.
    The articles you submit must be original posts.

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  4. I do love books with academic settings. Your Joel Williams books are great examples! The Morse books are wonderful, too. I love it when an investigation probes into the private lives of the professors.

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  5. Margot really gets around lately! I always enjoy her guest posts, and this one did not disappoint. Thanks, both of you!

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  6. I do enjoy mysteries wiht a theme, even those set on college campuses! Very nice post. Book Bird Dog

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  7. Margot, your book sounds great campus and murder. This is a good combo.

    Mason, thanks for hosting her.

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  8. Sia - Thanks for the kind words. College campuses really are intriguing places, and they are good matches for murder, no doubt about it : ).

    And Mason richly deserves any awards coming her way, so congratulations, Mason : ).


    Elizabeth - Thank you : ). And I agree with you that the Morse books really show the reader a lot about the Oxford campus as well as the people who live and work there. That's always been part of their appeal for me.


    Marvin - Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I've been doing my share of traveling lately. I think I'm due for some frequent blogging miles or something ; ).


    Book Bird Dog - Thanks : ). Themed mysteries can be engaging, can't they?

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  9. Journaling Woman - Thanks : ). I've always thought campus and murder made a strong combination. So much mystery, history and intrigue on college campuses...

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  10. Margot, thanks so much for guest blogging here today. I always find your post to be so informative and entertaining. I also come away thinking about things in a new and different light. Thanks again.

    Hi all, thanks for stopping by. I don't think any of us will look at campus life quite the same again.

    Sia, thanks so much for the award. I'm touched and honored.

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  11. Sounds like a very interesting book. Going to check it out.

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  12. Dru - Thanks; I hope that you'll enjoy it.

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  13. I love college campuses, and find them full of energy and inspiration. I often will commute in with one of my daughters and spend a morning in the university library, using their computer lab for my writing. It's always an interesting time, and I can so appreciate the setting in a novel!

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  14. Joanne - I've always been energized by college campuses, too! Their libraries are wonderful, and they are such nice places to think and work. They really are great places to write, too : ).

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  15. I love the concept. Margot the books sounds really enthralling! And it's great to see you here on Thoughts in Progress!

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  16. CCP - Thank you : ). You're very kind. I'm honored to be here, too. Isn't Mason's blog terrific!?

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  17. College campuses are self contined microcosms each with their own unique personalities. Just look at college football and basketball games. Lots of strange crazies for sure. Plenty of material to form a plot, setting, and characters.

    Stephen Tremp

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  18. Stephen - You've got a very good point about college sports! I don't have the deep knowledge of sports I would need to create a believable mystery in a college sport setting, but I know for certain that the material is there!

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  19. University campuses are indeed their own world within a world. Each has its own vibe and personality.
    And who doesn't love spending time in college campus libraries!!

    I enjoyed this post...thanks. :)

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  20. Lola - That's very kind of you - thanks for the nice words. And you're right; campus libraries are such terrific places to get "lost," aren't they? I love 'em!

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  21. Campuses are indeed special places, although I prefer the intimacy of Cambridge to the vastness of Oxford.

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  22. LadyFi - It's funny you would mention Cambridge. There are, of course, several mystery novels that take place there, and I thought of mentioning them - should have, I suppose. I have to say I like intimate campuses, too; they have their own special aura.

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  23. B Very Flat sounds like an interesting read. Thanks, Mason, for hosting Margot.

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  24. Carole - Thanks : ). That's nice of you to say.

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  25. Hi Mason and Margot .. I was lucky enough to go to school in Oxford and at that stage afterwards was around the town for awhile .. it is beautiful - and Morse's setting is quite evocative to be drawn back into. Dreaming Spires is so right .. we used to visit Shotover Hill where great friends of my parents lived .. wonderful area .. good name too?!

    Enjoy your writings .. and have great days .. Hilary

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  26. It's no wonder college campuses are such popular settings since it's possible for so many different types of people to be there! You've got dedicated science students (ah, but dedicated to what?), studious commerce students (secreting plotting world-wide empires), political science students (power-hungry little monsters) and the assorted creative arts students (who have their own issues). Then there's the professors, the setting, the inner politics of the whole school...

    What a wonderful canvas on which to paint a story!

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  27. Hillary - Thanks so much for sharing your memories. I've heard from others who've been to Oxford that Dexter's writing really is evocative of the place. I'm glad that's true, and that you have fond memories of the place. One day, I hope to see those "dreaming spires" for myself.



    Elspeth - Oh, isn't it a wonderful canvas? There really are so many disparate kinds of people, each with a different agenda. Little wonder that there's so much intrigue there. That's one thing that just appeals to me so much about the campus setting.

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  28. I love the mysteries set in Oxford. I like the books of Colin Dexter and his Morse character. THey were often set at Oxford. Now I think Inspector Lewis is still there.

    CD

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  29. Clarissa - Oxford makes such a terrific setting for a novel, doesn't it? That's definitely one appealing thing about the Dexter novels (among many other appealing things : ) ). I think the television series about Lewis is set there, too; I think you're right about that.

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  30. Mason, thanks for sharing Margot. Great interview. We met on Twitter and I follow her blog. I glean all sorts of good tips from there.

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  31. Glynis - How nice of you to stop in : ). It's a real pleasure to learn from you, too.

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  32. How ironic. I was just talking with a friend during lunch about college days. The campus atmosphere does tend to have a great impact on our lives and our memories.

    Good post. Thanks.

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  33. Lou - Thanks for the kind words. No doubt about it - college days most definitely impact us! I still have good friends from my college days, and that was a long time ago. I'm even married to one of them : ).

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  34. Thank you, Mason and Margot! I love the title of the book and it sounds a very interesting read!

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  35. Tali - Thanks : ). I have to give credit where it's due. My husband actually suggested the title : ).

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  36. Margot and Mason, this book sounds very interesting--definitely something I would enjoy reading. And I hope to check out Margot's blog.

    All the campus stuff is terrific--I spent a lot of my life on college campuses and I agree--they are great spots for murders--I've even considered a few myself.

    That is, writing about them. Not committing them.

    Interesting and thought-provoking post.

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  37. Mary - Thank you : ). I've spent most of my adult life on college campuses, too, and I think that's part of what inspired me to place my novels there. College campuses are just fascinating and unique places, aren't they?

    And I know what you mean about writing (not committing) murder. As I always tell my husband, I'm only dangerous when I write : ).

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  38. One of the reasons I became a college professor is that there's nothing quite like a college town. :D

    I do think universities make good settings because there's such an interesting mix of people (age, race, gender, religion, nationality, etc.) brought into a somewhat closed community -- which may not naturally occur in other settings.

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  39. Karen - That's one reason I became a professor, too : ). You make a very well-taken point, too. College campuses allow for a unique mix of people from so many different backgrounds, etc., that you don't necessarily fine anywhere else.

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  40. Sounds like a great book! And what a wonderful interview too!

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  41. Stephanie - Why, thank you! That's very kind of you. I thoroughly enjoyed being here : ).

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  42. Margot, your post is like a tour of the world via college campuses. Very interesting lineup of books (most of which I just added to my TBR list). I'm looking forward to reading B Very Flat.

    I like these interviews a lot, Mason. Nice feature.

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  43. To a Danish reader this is such an interesting theme. Here a university is just a place of study. After lectures students go home and don´t see each other until the next day. So it was a great experience for me to study in Reading, UK, for a semester - even though I brough my family and we lived in a rented house far from the campus.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's post. Thanks for dropping by.