Murdering Americans

Inspired by the film fantasies of 1950s Hollywood, Baroness Troutbeck, an ardent conservative, heads for America to become a visiting professor at an American campus, unaware that U.S. academia is dominated by liberalism and political correctness, and finds herself investigating the possible murder of the late Provost of Freeman State University.

"In Dudley Edwards's provocative, humorous 11th Robert Amiss mystery (after 2004's Carnage on the Committee), the outrageous Baroness "Jack" TroutbeckMistress of St. Martha's College, Cambridge, and member of the House of Lordsexperiences culture shock as a distinguished visiting professor at Freeman State University in New Paddington, Ind. With Horace, her loquacious parrot, perched on her shoulder, the conservative academic arrives in the Midwest to find a campus where political correctness has taken over, threatening to destroy Western Civilization as she knows it. Jack has her suspicions about the previous provost's death, and no trust in the left-wing current provost and the university president. She launches an investigation and convinces her partner-in-sleuthing, Robert Amiss, to cut his honeymoon short and help expose Freeman State's corruption, crimeand shoddy knee-jerk liberalism. Dudley Edwards wittily satirizes political correctness in this fast-paced academic romp. (Apr.)" --Publishers Weekly "The fun in the eleventh Robert Amiss and Baroness Jack Troutbeck novel starts on the very first page and doesnt stop until the very last. When Baroness Troutbeck decides to pay a visit to an Indiana university, little does she anticipate the American obsession with political correctness. Luckily, she is distracted by a murder, and soon she and Amiss (Watson to her Holmes) are doggedly pursuing the killer. But the brutally blunt, brook-no-nonsense Lady Troutbeck cant quite escape the surreal clutches of political correctness. The Amiss/Troutbeck novels are comic mysteries in the cozy style: small casts, small settings, big laughs. Edwards doesnt let a single opportunity to poke fun pass her by, and its the small moments, such as the Baroness futile attempts to enjoy a drink after a long flight, or her acid-tongued critique of a hotel breakfast (and let's not forget her interrogation by Homeland Security because of something her parrot said at the airport) that put a broad smile on our face. The story is enjoyable, but its the way Edwards tells it that makes the taleand the seriessuch a resounding success." --Booklist, starred review ""Political correctness run amok provides the motive for murder at a Midwestern university. Accepting a lucrative offer to become a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Freeman State University, Baroness ""Jack"" Troutbeck arrives in New Paddington, Ind., with her vocal parrot. An intellectually honest conservative, Jack is appalled to find that the school is run with an iron fist by the crooked, mean-spirited triumvirate of President Dickinson, Provost Helen Fortier-Prichardson, and her vicious assistant, Dr. Ethan Gonzales. Jack's driver Betsy, an earnest, barely literate student, gives her a primer on the trio's tactics, which range from intimidation to grade inflation to enforced enrollment in ridiculous classes. After hiring a Mike Hammer wannabe to look into the state of affairs, Jack is enraged when the investigator and his partner are killed in a bogus accident, and her outspoken comments start a riot. Luckily, she has a gun, provided by the delightful southerner she met on the plane from London, a traveling companion whose lawyer son is soon defending her from every effort to force her out. Refusing to give up on Freeman, Jack persuades Robert Amiss, her Watson, to abandon his bride during their honeymoon and fly to her aid, and finally mobilizes the students to turn things around and help catch a killer. Edwards (Murder in a Cathedral, 1997, etc.) pens a scathing, often amusing attack on over-the-top PC."" --Kirkus Reviews "Political correctness run amok provides the motive for murder at a Midwestern university. Accepting a lucrative offer to become a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Freeman State University, Baroness "Jack" Troutbeck arrives in New Paddington, Ind., with her vocal parrot. An intellectually honest conservative, Jack is appalled to find that the school is run with an iron fist by the crooked, mean-spirited triumvirate of President Dickinson, Provost Helen Fortier-Prichardson, and her vicious assistant, Dr. Ethan Gonzales. Jack's driver Betsy, an earnest, barely literate student, gives her a primer on the trio's tactics, which range from intimidation to grade inflation to enforced enrollment in ridiculous classes. After hiring a Mike Hammer wannabe to look into the state of affairs, Jack is enraged when the investigator and his partner are killed in a bogus accident, and her outspoken comments start a riot. Luckily, she has a gun, provided by the delightful southerner she met on the plane from London, a traveling companion whose lawyer son is soon defending her from every effort to force her out. Refusing to give up on Freeman, Jack persuades Robert Amiss, her Watson, to abandon his bride during their honeymoon and fly to her aid, and finally mobilizes the students to turn things around and help catch a killer. Edwards (Murder in a Cathedral, 1997, etc.) pens a scathing, often amusing attack on over-the-top PC." --Kirkus Reviews