Little Miss Evil

A Nick Hoffman / Academic Mystery, Book 4 – The fourth novel in the highly acclaimed series begins on a high note. It appears that Nick's career is finally moving in the right direction, and the celebrity that comes with solving murders has brought him more students than he can possibly handle. But things are never calm at the State University of Michigan: Nick's partner's career seems to be taking a downturn, a new faculty member is causing a lot of nasty talk, and cryptic messages are showing up in Nick's mailbox. What turns up next is a corpse—and some very unsettling thoughts for the reluctant sleuth.

Lev Raphael is a Lambda Literary Awards winner and multiple nominee for several books. This new edition in his Nick Hoffman contains a 2021 foreword by Meg Perry (Jamie Brodie series).

“Welcome to the State University of Michigan, where back-stabbing is a college sport, rumor-mongering is a core course, and murderous envy is campus king. SUM's fractured faculty inspire more laughs than a night of Seinfeld reruns. But what makes Little Miss Evil especially delightful is Lev Raphael's narrative voice: literate, sensitive, wise—and unabashedly sexy.” — Martha C. Lawrence, Pisces Rising

“The perfect book to take away for a weekend in the country…a genuinely funny modern comedy of manners.” — The Washington Post

“It's been said that academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small. Lev Raphael's satiric eye and the ironic voice of his refined but supremely sensible protagonist, Nick Hoffman, illuminate this exotic world for those of us on the outside. No one understands or conveys the comic reality—and murderous potential—of the trivial and tremendous pressures of campus life as well as Lev Raphael.” — S.J. Rozan, Stone Quarry

“A joy throughout, thanks to heroes with brains, heart, and nerves to spare.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Nick Hoffman is back, relegated to the basement of his college so he won't get into trouble. But when someone torches his mailbox, Nick gets the hint that an arsonist is carrying a flame for him. As ever, Lev Raphael is witty, biting and on the nail when it comes to the groves and gripes of academe, majoring in mayhem and murder along the way.” — Ian Rankin, Dead Souls

“Full of wisecracks, wit and pithy observations…I love this series!” — Murder Ink

“Lev Raphael’s writing is rich and satisfying, with subtle, densely textured characterizations and witty takes on life in general and the academic world in particular.” — I Love a Mystery

Lev Raphael is the author of 26 books in a dozen genres from memoir to mystery. His first book of short stories Dancing on Tisha B'Av won a Lambda Literary Award. He's published hundreds of stories, essays, articles, and book reviews in a wide range of newspapers, magazines and journals. Lev has won Amelia's Reed Smith Fiction Prize and International Quarterly's Crossing Boundaries Prize for Innovative Prose, awarded by novelist D.M. Thomas, author of The White Hotel. His suspense novel Assault with a Deadly Lie was a Midwest Book Award finalist.Lev's fiction and essays have appeared in over 24 anthologies in the U.S. and England, and are taught at colleges and universities around the country. His fiction has been analyzed in scholarly journals, books, and conferences like MLA. Special Archives at Michigan State University's Library purchased his literary papers and updates them yearly. Lev has reviewed for the Detroit Free Press, the Washington Post and other papers.

Meg Perry is Professor and Faculty Services Librarian at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, Florida. She is the author of the Jamie Brodie Mysteries, a gay mystery series set in the libraries at UCLA.