FFB Review: "A Knife In The Back: A Case for Professor Sally Good" by Bill Crider

A Knife In The Back: A Case for Professor Sally Good by Bill Crider is the second one in the series following Murder Is An Art.  Head of the English and Fine Arts of Hughes Community College located between Houston and Galveston, Dr. Sally Good she is still trying to live down her reputation for solving the recent murder case. Her plan is to focus on student essays and dealing with the daily various difficulties of being the department chair. She has to deal with all that and her ongoing addition addiction to chocolate bars.

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Then Ralph Bostic gets himself killed. One of the trustees of Hughes Community College, Ralph Bostic was considered to be a less than stellar human being before he got himself stabbed by a knife. A certain knife made by one of Dr. Good’s department members, Jack Neville. The same Jack Neville who helped her in the previous situation and a guy she is developing some sort of attachment to because she had said yes to a date.

As others in the HCC system overreact to the situation and local police believe no further investigation is needed, Dr. Sally Good is well aware that somebody needs to figure out who actually did the crime. She knows that based on prior experience and long before the murderer strikes again on campus. Once again it is going to be up to Dr. Sally Good to solve the case that literally begins with A Knife In The Back.

Building on the previous character development for Dr. Sally Good, Jack Neville, and others in Murder Is An Art this read is another good one in the series. As in the Carl Burns Mystery series the author is clearly using his background in academia to craft these mysteries. Subtle humor, a dash of romance, and plenty of mystery where there are lots of suspects make A Knife In The Back a mighty good read. While I personally prefer Sheriff Dan Rhodes series, the author’s many other series and stand alones also provide an excellent Bill Crider writing fix even without the Dr Pepper. 

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System. They do not care one whit whether I read it or even if I review it. They just want their book back in the same shape it came to me.

Make the rest of your Friday a reading quest by heading over to Patti Abbott’s blog and checking out the FFB list. Make sure you make time to pick up a copy of her Concrete Angel. A mighty good read that is well worth it.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016