Murder at Oklahoma

by Jack M. Bickham

Book Overview

They didn't take Flip Ryan too seriously when she first arrived at the University of Oklahoma. Until Lillith, the elegantly haughty star of the English department is suddenly murdered--and Flip is the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425163814
• ISBN13: 9780425163818
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

Jack Bickham is the man who wrote Scene and Structure - the last word of 'how to' books for aspiring writers. And in his books you will find all of his advice, translated into his style. Murder at Oklahoma is a great read. It has all the hallmarks of a craftsman. Buy this book.

True local color and murder, what a pleasing combination!

I checked this book from my local library because of it's title and it's obvious connection to my alma mater. What a treat! Bickman, who must be a RETIRED professor from OU (he skewers current OU president, former Senator Boren), has captured campus politics and intrigue with great skill and a fine sense of humor. He even includes our typical Oklahoma spring weather and flowers, including a realistic-sounding tornado and time spent trapped in a storm cellar. As a former university addict, now recovering, I got a real chuckle out of reading Bickman's descriptions and the murder mystery was just icing on the cake. If you've ever enjoyed mystery with a spunky and smart female amateur detective and/or taken a university class, let alone gotten a degree, you will enjoy this book. And if you are an Oklahoman, especially with a degree from the finest state university, in my humble opinion, you'll love this book! I've read some of Bickman's earlier works after having read! this winner, and I'm fixin' to check out more. :)

A good start to a new mystery series

Thirty-five years old divorcee, Flip Ryan is only a few months away from receiving her Ph.D.in electrical engineering. To accomplish this noted achievement, F lip has supplemented her income by writing freelance articles. To hone her skills, she is attending an English writing class under revered, confident Professor John Millon Thrush. However, John seems like a totally different person this term. He is nervous and unable to concentrate on his own work let alone his students' projects. When a coleague is murdered John's agitation noticably inceases. It soon becomes known that John had an affair with the deceased when she was one of his graduate students. It also becomes known that the couple had several acrimonious exchanges between them. Apparently, the victim's computer was smashed to smithereens after the hard drive had been erased. In addition, a financial strapped Lilith was writing an expose based on the Oklahoma University staff that would have left several people in a bad light. The ever-curious Flip begins to snoop around even though she is putting her self at grave risk. Although MURDER AT OKLAHOMA is the first novel in a new series, the book feels as if an old friend has returned thanks to the remarkable abilities of Jack M. Bickman. Readers will easily understand the university's political culture and recognize some of the characters as having traits of people they know. The academic/amateur sleuth mystery is interesting enough to maintain reader attention, yet cryptic enough to keep the audience involved. Mr. Bickman is a talent who hopefully will have more works starring Flip. Harriet Klausner