Book Review: Little Miss Evil

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Little Miss Evil     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Lev Raphael
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Academic   Gay / Lesbian
Series: Nick Hoffman # 4
Walker, May 2000, $23.95, 256 pp.

The State University at Michigan is the employer of choice for Nick Hoffman, a composition teacher seeking tenure. After solving three homicide cases, students feel Nick is a hero, but the academic tenure committee frown upon the recent dramas in the teacher's life. They expect their professors to avoid bringing negative press to the university, maintain a low profile, and adhere to the party line. Nick is a colossal failure at all three items.

For the first time in Nick's life he is attracted to a woman. Stephen, Nick's significant other for fifteen years, is unaware of this revolting development because he is in a funk over the flop of his writing career. Stephen notices that someone is harassing Nick and worries that his lover will begin another dangerous investigation. Stephen's fear becomes a reality when a teacher is killed and the weapon is a scarf that belongs to the woman who has captured Nick's interest

Lev Raphael is a clever writer who creates a visual mystery populated with characters fans care about from previous Hoffman tales. The academic environment seems more like the front of a war zone (or is that a political race?) where individuals understand and use the various weapons of personal destruction on their rivals. Academic mystery readers will love LITTLE MISS EVIL, but so will those who relish a relationship drama. This talented writer has created a work that will appeal to a mainstream audience.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner