Death without Tenure

Death without Tenure by Joanne Dobson is the latest in her mystery series that takes place in academia. The series focuses on Kate Pelletier, an English professor at the elite Enfield College. She's solved many a murder on campus. The themes of these novels usually involve the works of literary figures such as Poe, Dickinson, Hammett ,etc. This time it's not so much about literature as it is about tenure. Kate is up for tenure and has all the necessary materials to be awarded tenure - articles in major journals, a book, and so on. However, the English department can only award one tenure position this year and she's up against a colleague John Lone Wolf, a Native American. The big push by the department chair is to give tenure to Lone Wolf, even though he hasn't finished his disseration, authored or co-authored any article in any journal, nor presented papers at conferences. This is the climate that Kate faces in her battle for tenure. Then Lone Wolf is murdered. Kate's the primary suspect because of the tenure issue. The novel gives an up front and personal view of the terror of tenure track. It's a brutal exercise and entirely political. As usual in a mystery novel there are a plethora of red herrings and misdirections. Lone Wolf is not as he seems, which may or may not be a factor in his murder. Kate is strung out because of being a suspect, trying to get tenure, dealing with a mother who has dementia, and a boyfriend who is in Iraq fighting the war. But she gets to the bottom of the murder and the near destruction of the English department. The novel is quite enjoyable, especially if you've had experience in academia. Joanne Dobson is a professor herself (Fordham University) and knows how the academic world works. It's still a murder mystery and that is its main draw. It's written well even though Dobson tends to go off on tangents when Kate teaches a class. It's entertaining and I recommend it.

Note: I was reading this when that professor at Alabama killed three of her colleagues and injured three others, the reasons which may involve her not being awarded tenure. This made for some uncomfortable reading in light of what happened. The issues around tenure are volatile and the process can be quite ugly. Dobson sheds some light on this in this novel.