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A Little Learning is a Murderous Thing
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Plot Summary of A Little Learning is a Murderous Thing
"

Five Star, Apr 2005, 25.95, 281 pp.
ISBN: 159414253X

Copper University Victorian Literature Professor Maddie Temple always looks forward to the start of a new school after the summer vacation. However, this year her enthusiasm is a bit tempered by the demands of Flo Andrews, the empty department coordinator, who prefers to administer discipline than teach and the rants and rage of the Chair Malcolm Driscoll over the money spent (and his mind wasted) on SWINC, designed to help the handicap.

However, the first day turns deadly when an “A” student falls from a library window in what looks like a suicide. Not long afterward, Maddie finds her boss dying in his home. While the police believe that Flo, coveting Malcolm's job, is the prime suspect in what turns out to be a deadly poisoning, Maddie thinks otherwise. Temporarily the chairgirl, she makes her own inquires into both deaths wondering if a SWINC supporter decided to eliminate a vocal influential opponent and how this relates to the dead student.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of A Little Learning is a Murderous Thing
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Murder of certain profession? - students/teachers
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - teacher
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - unemployed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - revenge
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to A Little Learning is a Murderous Thing
Dead Soldiers by Bill Crider
Murder Is Academic by Christine Poulson
Hot On the Trail by Jane Isenberg
Murder at the B-School by Jeffrey Cruikshank
Shadows on the Ivy by Lea Wait


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