Murder by the Book

By Amie Schaumberg

Book Overview

Two dead students. A coded reference to Shakespeare. And the promise of darker things to come.

Near a small college campus, a student is found strangled in an abandoned barn on the outskirts of town. She's been posed to look like a painting of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the scene taunting the police with a message they don't understand. Detective Ian Carter is known as a straitlaced cop, but seeing the girl's body leaves him shaken and uncertain of where to turn--until a chance meeting with a charmingly awkward literature professor ends with her accidentally seeing, and solving, a clue left by the killer.

Professor Emma Reilly knows that the books she loves might hold the key to unraveling the killer's crimes now that a second murder has been discovered, with the victim posed as the Lady of Shalott this time. However, when the murderer strikes too close to home and kills a third student, one from Emma's classes, she realizes that the safety of her insular life might be nothing more than an illusion. She must find the strength to confront a killer who is turning the stories she loves into lurid scenes of death.

Amie Schaumberg has crafted a smart, thrilling and utterly compelling mystery that will have you trying to figure out whodunit right up until the end.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 077838750X
• ISBN13: 9780778387503
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Mira Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Interesting

I did not realize that this was a debut book, until after I finished it. Now knowing that it was a first attempt, I gave the story an extra star because I did enjoy the intricacies of the murdered women and how they were posed and what story it told about them and why they had been killed. It did feel pretty cozy at times, with all the professors meeting together to use their deep knowledge of their chosen professions to figure out clues to help the police solve the crimes before another woman is killed. And I could understand how Emma was unable to stop picking the murders apart, especially once she figured out an important piece. I did however get annoyed with Ian who constantly put her down, while also having feelings. Yes, I know it is because he wanted to protect Emma, but at least he could listen to her ideas, or even answer the phone when she called. A lot of pain could have been avoided if that had happened. I would not call this a twisty crime thriller as the suspect pool is quite small and the killer stands out pretty easily. So, I would put this as more of a cozy mystery (or at least as much of one can be with a serial killer) and pretty good for a debut book.