The Seventh Sinner

The Seventh Sinner Elizabeth Peters Date: 1972   —   $6.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Mystery

This is the first novel to feature Jacqueline Kirby, bizarre librarian, though you wouldn't know it from the cover description. The murder is of a man with no social graces whatsoever, a man whose ill-kept appearance and rude maneuvering into a group means that many of them would have reasons to get him out of the way. Of course, ineptitude itself is not a reason for murder, and Jacqueline Kirby must find out who is the killer, since a young lady of the group appears to be a target.

The motive, when finally revealed, is a familiar one, and Jake is perfectly in place to reveal it. Sadly, the reactions surrounding the revelation are also far too common, and a commentary on the insular academic tradition.